JUDGEMENT day is nigh for this summer’s roses, but they’re not wilting under the strain. The judges hover everywhere, even when the girls make their way up the aisle at St John’s church during Sunday mass.

STARMAKER Louis Walsh's latest talent competition is set to turn this year's Rose of Tralee Festival into Tinseltown for thousands of wannabe young singers.

The Republic waits today for the results of tests on a sheep blood sample that could confirm the country’s second case of foot-and-mouth.