Rose organiser hits back at cllrs lovely girl remarks
A row has broken out between the chairman of Meath Tourism and the organisers of the Meath Rose of Tralee competition over a county council civic reception for the new International Rose of Tralee, Elysha Brennan.
At Monday’s council meeting, a motion was put forward to hold a reception for the Bettystown woman who won the international competition, but Cllr French, a Fine Gael councillor who heads up the county tourism body, abstained.
He issued a statement saying: 'As a feminist, I cannot support civic reception for Rose of Tralee.'
He said: 'People will argue that the Rose of Tralee is more than a beauty competition; that it is about personality. But why is there no ‘lovely lad’ competition so the guys can show off their personality? Are married women allowed to enter the Rose of Tralee? Are mothers allowed to enter the Rose of Tralee?'
He added that from a young age girls are bombarded by images of what society considers beautiful.
'Pageants such as the Rose of Tralee have not only created unrealistic expectations of beauty among young women but also contributed to eating disorders and self esteem issues.
Is this then is the message we are giving our young girls. I certainly did not watch the Rose of Tralee – I have no interest in comparing one woman against another in a ‘lovely girl’ competition.'
He continued: 'I am sure Ms Brennan is a lovely lady. I met last year’s Rose and she was a lovely person but there is something wrong with the equality of our society when we are still having beauty competition in this day and age of supposed equality. Women are human beings worthy of full human rights, and they are not decorations or vessels or servants.
'It’s a free country, and if people want to hold beauty pageants and women want to participate in them, I think they should be allowed to do so but it’s a free country and I do not have to support them or their anti-feminist message.'
Gordon Weldon, who organises the Meath Rose of Tralee finals, said on his Facebook site that Cllr French expressed his 'delusional feelings recently and in doing so brought great embarrassment to himself and the people he represents.'
He said: 'This is the same man who met with the 2014 Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh in February 2015 to hand her a four-leaf clover to celebrate the launch of the Navan Shamrock festival!'
Mr Weldon continued: 'Cllr French, with little claim to Meath roots being a Cork native, sought to oppose the county council’s decision to host a civic reception to honour Elysha Brennan, the 2015 International Rose of Tralee. His opposition was met with great distaste amongst his fellow representatives who reflected on the great pride the title had brought to Co Meath.
'Surely Cllr French was elected to serve a purpose within county Meath such as assisting low income families, people with mortgage arrears, the water charges, property tax and such. It seems to me that those issues are not his priority and would prefer to dehumanise a young lady who has already offered great hope and positivity to people suffering from cancer and other related illnesses. I would hope that upon reflection of his comments that an official apology be given in light of the embarrassment he has brought.'