Rose of Tralee ready to bloom again

ROSE of Tralee Tamara Gervasoni has claimed that shoplifting was a symptom of her eating disorder.

Tamara, who yesterday resumed her duties as Festival Rose, said she was not aware that she had allegedly shoplifted an item worth less than 50 in Longford Shopping Centre last December.

A file on the incident is still with the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The Italian Rose said she “was just not there” when arrested by gardaí on suspicion of shoplifting.

“I did not know I was there with my parents. I was in such a state of mind that I went home and I did not know,” she said.

She later discovered that shoplifting was a symptom of her eating disorder. “It scared me. It scared me a lot,” Tamara, 23, told a press conference in Dublin.

After the alleged shoplifting incident Tamara stepped down from her official duties as Festival Rose and sought help for bulimia, a secret eating disorder she developed after becoming anorexic.

Donna O’Connor, a clinical psychologist and clinical director of the Irish National Eating Disorders Association (INEDA) said Tamara had shown great bravery and courage in facing her battle with bulimia and committing herself to the road of recovery.

Ms O’Connor said bulimia was an obsessive, compulsive disorder and it was not unusual for sufferers like Tamara to pick up an item in a shop and walk out with it: “We often see this when people are suffering from depression. It’s almost like a cry for help,” she said.

Siobhan Hanley, president and chief executive of The Rose of Tralee International Festival, said she was personally delighted that Tamara, who had been a great ambassador for both the festival and Ireland, was resuming her duties: “Our priority is to ensure the well-being of the reigning rose and we are obviously delighted that she is well enough to continue her role and most importantly that she has sought and is receiving professional assistance with her condition.”

Tamara, an arts graduate, who lives with her parents in Longford, said she was keen to fulfil all her engagements as reigning rose and was also committed to creating greater awareness about eating disorders.

“You would never think that someone who looks so confident has an eating disorder,” she said. “The first major step I took was believing I had a problem.”

More information on eating disorders is available from the following:

The Irish National Eating Disorders Association (INEDA) [phone].

Bodywhys [phone];

www.bodywhys.ie.