 Now the search is on for the 2024 Donegal Rose and Katie McIntyre from Ralph Mullen was our ambassador in Tralee last year and has been Donegal Rose for the past year and now she's preparing to pass on the Donegal sash and entries are already being submitted online at roseoftralee.ie and delighted that Katie actually joins us now online Katie how are you I'm good thank you are you good you're joining us from London that's your new base but not new anymore I suppose yeah well almost a year so it's still kind of new yeah yeah and and and what is what is your work in London what's your job I'm in for and some gym public relations for an agency that works with hotels in restaurants and some coffee and cupcake brands so it's a bit of everything okay yeah that is a mixed bag yeah it is a mixed bag it's it's a nice change so because you used to work with Mary Crawford I know yeah the right angle here and then just decided to spread your wings yeah and I loved the work with Mary it was great and I think the only thing I was missing was city life so yeah it was time to move over well if it's city life you want no better place than London what what is your job entailed um a lot of just writing press releases getting influencers and media to hotels and restaurants um sending out cupcakes sending out coffee all of that events different things going on so making making noise for and on behalf of your customers yeah pretty much good at making plans yes yeah all right making a you know making making noise it's getting them publicity I suppose that's what it's all about right and I think as well in London like it's completely different because there's so many brands and some it's so big and like it's a whole new it's a whole new challenge really like um and I suppose more events kind of during the week and stuff so it's a bit of everything a bit of travel involved as well so it's nice I mean stay a bit of travel that means you have to zip around London by Tube yeah I love it I absolutely love it everyone thinks it's great but I think it's just such a novelty because when you're at home and you're waiting on a bus every three hours or you're on like it's just I think it's class and then you see people running and there's like another one coming in two minutes like so yeah yeah yeah but you know as you say you know when you come from Donegal it is um it's it's it's the novelty of it um but if you're born and raised in London you know public transport is is the norm yeah but in saying that there's nothing like that and going home and getting a break from it all and being on the beach and stuff so it's nice to have it it's nice as well not being too far away so yeah absolutely London a lot closer than it than it used to be and I just going back to the the rows of trolley so you're about to hand over your sash and what sort of a year has it been as a Donegal rose it's been class well it's actually been two years because what they're doing now is they're like given some of the row centres like they're doing it every second year and the reason for that is so that everyone gets on tv so um my selection was actually in 2022 so it's been this year's been a bit better but the year before was just mad at class um between the tour the lead up to go into Chile um we were in New York we're in Philadelphia and the St. Patrick's Bay Parades we were at Christmas markets in Germany um we were everywhere and anywhere doing things here and there it was absolutely class it was so so good it was a great experience so yeah year one it was full on there was a lot of things that um that you were you were involved in year two sort of settled down a bit explain the good thing about year two was we all got to go back so I think about 40 of us or something like that went back to Chile then this year and just had the crack for the weekend so pressure was off yeah yeah explain the two-year thing to me again so they used to do it in a way that I think there was like 60 roses from all over and only 30 two or 33 would get on tv so there would be 30 that would do all the tour and do everything but then they wouldn't actually do the interview on tv and all of that but which is the part that most people know and most people see yeah but actually we were on a 10 day tour around like the south of Ireland for the lead-up to going to Chile um but I suppose the main part is like everyone does want to see their rows or whoever on tv so that's why they decided it up now so like Donny Gall's every second year and it's an alternative years to um I don't know Mayo so okay spreading it out a bit more yeah yeah exactly spreading the love and and how how was the whole experience down down in Chile because you know there's a lot of pressure attached to it you have to appear on live tv on there with Dahi and so you know that's uh you know that there's a certain amount of um preparation stuff has to go with that it's preparation I think the good thing is the tours so full on like we were in Wexford Kildare Dublin Corp obviously in Kerry we were somewhere else Waterford Wicklow I don't know somewhere we were in I think we were in seven different counties over the space of 10 days and it's all on the whole time so kind of by the time you get to Chile you've not even thought about the tv part so it's like it all happens very quickly then at the end um but you get a lot of like face-to-face time with Dahi getting to know him he gets to know you so you're kind of more relaxed then when it comes to going on stage and talking to him because and you can also the great thing about it is like when I went on stage I could see my whole family like it's not that big of a room like you can see everyone it almost feels like you like it's you just a lot more relaxed and stuff so it's not as much pressure as you think and it's a really really enjoyable experience and it looks very big on tv yeah it does it's completely deceiving actually um but yeah it's giving me see all your flags and then I kind of got a bit I was like oh god because like you can see your face obviously everywhere and you're a bit like oh not today let me just chat and and uh uh what about your um your escort how did you get on with him good yeah um yeah good yeah yeah the escorts are good crack and the Johnnyville Rose Center is actually looking for escorts as well so all right so escorts as well as potential roses yeah it's great it's such a good crack honestly they're like at the end of it all there's 60 60 people that you don't know and now you're in group chats with them and you're traveling here with them and going there with them and it's such a good way of meeting people and I think as well like one of the reasons I did it was after lockdown you're kind of like you're kind of in a rush and you're in your comfort zone and everything and it's such a good way of getting out of your comfort zone meeting the people and it's almost like a bit of a like reboot and like oh my god life is so exciting and there's so much to say and so much to do and like visiting people in Philadelphia or the New York Rose or Sydney Rose like and the Sydney Rose then when my sister moved to Sydney bumped into her a week later like it it's just there's such a sense of community everywhere you go it's fun well you know some people can embrace that whole that whole thing and you know the busier the better and time is flying in you're meeting a lot of people and you I think you're you're one of those people and so life in London and the job that you have in London you know is obviously you know certain you're down to the ground yeah but it's funny then when you go to explain the roses to people like even today I was like oh I need a bit of a few minutes to go and do an interview for this and then they were like what are you talking about but then you explain that there's a London Rose and New York Rose and it's kind of like you're just explaining that as a celebration of Irish women and that's exactly what it is it is just class it's so good yeah and and and life in London I mean you know you get obviously you know you get your time off and you get to experience you know a big city so you've been I imagine that you know since you moved there you've been doing a lot of the you know kind of the touristy bits and seeing different boroughs in London and stuff loads the touristy bit loads of the food market there's so many restaurants bars all that jazz and so much walking which I love so it's lovely and I live like in an area where there's loads of parks and stuff so you don't always feel like you're kind of in the middle of it all all the time but then also a bit of Gaelic football over here as well so yeah you still see you you got to pick up your Gaelic football career over there yeah yeah who you playing with over there there are there's like 120 girls I think signed up for the team I play for and so it's a big difference from going to training in Milford with seven girls but that's because everyone's in London and Sydney so um yeah it's good it's a it's another it's a class where I've gotten to meet people as well because I mean I've been lucky coming over here that I had friends and stuff but it's a great way of kind of getting sense because it was the time the only way that you got to meet the other Irish people who was in the pub but now you know yeah well there's that as well but yeah but you don't you don't have to rely on that you know no you don't have to rely on it yeah okay and and what about connections with home because I know you're very hands-on with the Rathmullen phone festival and used to help out is it are you able to help from remotely or yeah we're actually working on it at the minute and so there's two film challenges happening if anyone wants to go down that road and apply for that um so just check out Rathmullen film best story and um yeah so I'm able to help out remotely which is class so nice that connection and just and then also when I was home I was helping out in our family pub in the White Heart so it's a bit of is it true is it true that you've become something of a wine expert well yeah I was working in wine pure up until christmas and you know what I loved it but then it's one of those things where you know when you really enjoy a glass of wine and you don't want it to be your job as well uh-huh and so I know I would not like I mean wine expert I passed an exam that's good going well yeah in comparison to like to me you are an expert now then oh well yeah then I suppose yeah so that means that when you sit down now for um uh for about to eat and you know the subject of wine comes up you know all heads turn to you okay do you'll know you'll know what works here yeah but then it's one of those things where it's like I'm not I'm not working so you can pick I'm not a decision maker like that I hate it it's the same as you know when you're asked by music for the office or something it's just like uh-huh no way well there's some continued success and just to remind people if there's um anyone interested in going forward for the rose that they can apply online yeah so apply on the rose just truly dot i e if you have any questions just message donnie goll rose center on social media and yeah it's class you do need a sponsor a business sponsor as well but mine was from halahouse so just reach out to someone that you know and yeah it'll be a great night on the 13th of April so it'll be class okay that's that's when the that's when the donnie goll rose is selected yeah okay and you just have to be over 18 and under 30 yeah between 18 and I think it's 30 before September okay between 18 and 30 yeah but all of the details are on the rose literally website very good well listen continued success uh cary and uh maybe we'll bump into you on one of your one of your trips so maybe around about the time of the film festival but in the meantime and great to talk to you continued success over and on thank you so much thanks for having me on bye bye