Miss Meath Aoife McGrane and Mr Meath James Darlington-Cramond.

Ashbourne's Aoife takes Miss Meath title

Aoife McGrane from Ashbourne has been crowned Miss Meath 2014 and will go on to represent Meath in the Miss Ireland contest on 19th July.

The 20 years-old student from Coolfore was one of 11 contestants who took part in the Miss Meath event in Trim’s Castle Arch Hotel on Saturday 1st March, when the first ever Mr Meath was also crowned - James Darlington-Cramond from Mullagh, who will represent Meath in Mr Ireland on 6th June.  Runner-up Matthew McKenna will also go forward to the final.

This year for the first time, Miss Ireland is holding semi-finals for all runners-up with the chance of getting to the final so Meath could end up with three contenders in the final. The runners up were Miss Beauty By Laura, Niamh McMahon, and Miss Hair Culture, Ailish McFadden.

Winner Aoife is a second year student at DCU where she is studying Health and Society. The Ashbourne beauty said she was “a bit nervous on Saturday night but was just doing it for the fun and didn’t expect anything to come of it”. She said she was shocked when she was announced as the winner.

The event was organised and produced by style team Anne O’Donovan and Jenny Russell who have thanked their main sponsor, the Castle Arch Hotel, as well as other sponsors, Fortuna, Headstart, Beauty by Laura, Hair Culture, Granny Lils Sweets and Blingalicious. Also in attendance were the owners of Miss Ireland, Sean Montague and Brendan Scully, in addition to sponsors of the event Maria Graham from Blingalicious, Suzanne Weir from Headstart, Laura McClorey, Beauty by Laura, and Fortuna Accessories & Millinery.