'It's something you are a part of for life'... Meath Rose Escort for 2025 winner delves into what it takes to fill the role

After Laois Rose 20-year-old Katelyn Cummins was named this year's Rose of Tralee at the start of the week, the annual celebrations began.

With the build up to the competition creating a buzz all over the country, the nerves began to kick in for all of the Roses competing to win the title, but there is one key factor that each contestant has to keep them calm and collected throughout the entirety of the competition - the Rose Escorts.

Every Rose is assigned a Escort to accompany and help them through the process of the competition. One of these lucky men is Meath man Tommy Meade, who was the Escort for The Laois Rose and 2025's Rose of Tralee, Katelyn Cummins.

Meath was well-represented in this years Rose of Tralee festival, with Meath Rose Ella Bannon demonstrating her beautiful Irish Dancing skills on stage and three of the Rose Escorts this year being from the Royal County, including Ted Lyons from Bettystown and Conor Finn from Ballinabrackey.

Tommy is a 27-year-old born and raised in Lobinstown, Co Meath, who works in a bank and on his family farm. He plays football with Syddan GFC and last year, competed in and got to the semi-finals in 'So You Think You're Funny?' at Edinburgh Fringe Festival for his stand-up comedy. With his busy schedule, he still managed to squeeze in being a Rose Escort.

"You're in a group of thirty-one other like minded individuals, and you're generally picked to be an escort because you're sound, you're good craic, you can talk and you listen to people.

It doesn't matter what sort of background you come from, they're the main reasons your selected, so you're put in with a really sound bunch of lads."

When you apply to be a Escort and are successfully shortlisted, those who are selected are then brought in for individual interviews and group interviews. The men who pass these interviews are then sent to a boot camp where they complete a number of tasks and challenges. This year, they went hiking around Tralee and Dingle around six weeks before the competition.

"During my interview, I got one of the judges up and I jived with her, which came in handy later in the competition".

"We're without phones so you can really bond with the other escorts. Then a week before the competition, you go down to Tralee and you meet the Roses and we're paired up.

We have no idea who we will be paired up with, so the chaperones organise that. I was fortunate enough to be partnered with Katelyn."

"I actually knew of Katelyn as I had seen clips online and I saw she worked as an electrician, which I thought was really interesting. She stood out."

As soon as the men are paired with a contestant, it is their duty to make the Roses time in Tralee as stress free as possible.

"We make sure everything runs on time and runs smoothly. We come and assist them in terms of bringing them from one place to another, or bringing them to their mode of transportation. I often would give a ten minute warning for Katelyn to finish up a competition when we had to be somewhere. I'm the bad cop in a way" Tommy laughed.

Tommy describes being a Rose Escort as almost like being a big brother figure for the women competing.

"The Roses are the main people that people are there to see and talk to, but we are there to make it as easy as possible for them, from interviews to appearances."

If the contestants need absolutely anything, from a lend of a listening ear to plasters if their high heels cut their feet, their escort is there to assist them on the lead up to the competition.

"This part is just an element of our role, but most of the time the main job is to have a bit of craic and a bit of fun, which takes the pressure off the girls, too."

"It's all about creating that buzz and that atmosphere. We also join the Roses on the floats during the parades that are held in Tralee."

This year, something unusual happened, where an escort accompanied a Rose during the talent portion of the competition.

Tommy joined Katelyn on stage to demonstrate their jiving skills. The two had jived a few times before the competition and realised it would be a perfect fit.

"We went down to the pub that sponsored Katelyn and we were jiving away, and we said 'this is really good, we could do this on television'. We were brought into RTE and they wanted to see us in action, and they agreed."

"The video of us jiving on RTE at this moment has half a million views online, so it sort of blew up, and it was only the third time we had ever danced together."

When asked about how he felt when Katelyn's name was called out as the winner, Tommy said: "It was just unbelievable, I couldn't believe it. I remember I turned to the Escorts beside me and said 'do we stand up and clap when the winner's announced or do we stay seated?' and they told me that we had to stay seated."

"When they called out that the Laois Rose had won, I jumped up out of my seat with excitement."

"After the winner is announced, we go down the main street in Tralee for the Midnight Parade. It was crazy, it was like a St. Patrick's Day Parade, there was thousands of people at it."

When asked if he had any concerns before hitting the stage to dance with Katelyn, Tommy admitted that all he was worried about was standing on her dress.

Tommy acknowledged his own county, by saying that "Meath Rose Ella Bannon did brilliantly, she danced amazingly and couldn't have done anything better."

Despite all of the perks and excitement around being a Rose Escort, Tommy admits that the best part is the people you meet and the relationships you form through the competition.

"This is only really the start of it. You meet new people and build your connections. There is a lot more to experience. It is something you are kind of part of for life."