Miss Ireland Pamela Uba: 'The direct provision system needs to be revamped'

'I just remember landing here, feeling that it was colder, and being aware that there was no gun violence here'

Pamela Uba was just seven years old when she moved to Ireland. Her family stayed in direct provision until she was in her first year of college. 

Pamela Uba’s Miss Ireland journey began in March 2020 when she was crowned Miss Galway, just three days before the nation's first lockdown. It wasn't a childhood dream for the GMIT graduate, rather a notion that began to brew after a chance mishap at work.

"The Miss Galway competition was taking place one night in the bar I worked at and one of the judges thought I was a contestant. I was like, 'Wow, do they actually think I'm able to do this?'," the 25-year-old says.