Organisers of a US-themed child beauty pageant were so desperate to find a venue, they even checked out a run-down industrial estate and considered staging it in a dilapidated scrap metal yard.

Organisers of a US-themed child beauty pageant have signalled their intention to stage up to four more in Ireland next year — despite suffering a backlash from a number of angry parents just hours before their first-ever Irish event at the weekend.