This much I know: Etaoin Ó hAilpín

I NEVER set out to be a model.

I used to be quite a tom boy. I played camogie and football until I was 16, although I guess I did play with dolls and Barbies when I was a kid.

Winning Miss Cork is what changed things for me. I went on to study Business at CIT, but after the win I started modelling with the Lockdown Agency and I love it. We’re all great friends and I get to meet and socialise with well-known people like Rosanna Davison and Peter Kelly — aka Brides of Franc.

My first paid job was waitressing in Scoozi’s restaurant.

Everyone loves getting a bit of attention and I’m no different. I like it when people acknowledge that I am a model, but I get more attention for being Sean Óg’s sister. I don’t mind at all, but it’s quite funny when all the boys want to do is ask me questions about my brother.

I’m very close to my sister and four brothers. We’re a tight knit family. Everyone in the family is athletic, not just Sean Óg. All the boys play sports and my sister is into Zumba and spinning.

My earliest memory is of my first day at school. I was given a piece of paper and told to write my name in any colour I wanted. They put it on the wall along with all the other kids’ names.

I’ve kissed the Blarney Stone around seven times. But then, we do live down the road from it.

My sport of choice is running. I run three to four times a week. I just did the Cork Mini Marathon for Marymout Hospice and plan to do more.

I thought The Queen’s visit to Cork was wonderful. I loved that she even spoke as Gaeilge and that more Irish people have a greater respect for her since the visit.

Personality is a must for a model. You can buy make-up to make you prettier, extensions to make your hair longer — but you just can’t buy personality.

I’m a firm believer in fate and that everything happens for a reason.

It’s important to have a work/life balance. It’s all about time management. After work I go running and do my exercises and then wind down and chill out.

If anyone out there wants to be a model, I’d say please don’t starve yourself. Young girls put awful pressure on themselves to be skinny from what they watch on TV. It’s terrible. Eat what you want.

If I won the Lotto I’d give money to all my family, build myself a castle and go on a really long sunny holiday with my boyfriend, friends and family. I would save the left overs. If there were any.

I think Tyra Banks’ show ‘Next Top Model’ is great. I’d love to take part in an Irish version, it would be quite an experience.

If I could change one thing in our society, it would have to be the high crime rate with teenagers, especially where drugs are involved in disadvantaged areas. We need more youth clubs and facilities for these places.

I eat healthy. It’s not that I make myself though, it’s because I enjoy it. I love eating fruits and veggies. My mom’s curry is the best. But I do indulge with chocolate and cake sometimes.

In times of stress, I like to keep positive, no matter how bad the situation is. I keep telling myself that everything will work out in the end. My motto would be ‘Don’t worry be happy’.

The best advice I ever got was to just to be myself and do my best, because that’s all you can ever do.

Etaoin Ó hAilpín is one of the rising stars of the Irish modelling scene.

Based in Cork, she is also the sister of hurler Sean Óg Ó hAilpín.