‘Farmer’ escorts thorn in my side, says Rose Yvonne

EVERY Rose has its thorn - and if Luxembourg Rose Yvonne Lintner is anything to go

Just hours in the country, the 24-year-old blonde sparked the first controversy of the festival when she set her eyes upon the 28 escorts.

“They’re a bunch of farmers,” she said before heading off on a whistle-stop tour of the country.

Clearly warming to the topic, Ms Lintner said the escorts this year did not live up to expectation and were not blessed with the movie star looks she was hoping for.

“There’s only two good-looking ones, oh I don’t think there’s any fear of a romance. The escorts are all farmers, aren’t they?” she enquired.

Having already shelled out the princely sum of €1,500 for the privilege of hanging off the arm of an exotic beauty for the week-long festival, she said that this year’s escorts are going to need a lot more than a fat wallet to make any of this year’s entrants swoon. “We’re not stuck in the 1950s anymore, the girls are moving with the festival and we’re hoping the lads will charm us and show us a good time. It always helps when they have lots of money, but we’re not looking for that,” said the Dublin-born university graduate, who is hoping to one day become an Irish ambassador.

Not so concerned about the physical attributes of the escorts, or lack thereof, was 24-year-old Noreen Donahue, who is the first contestant ever to represent Philadelphia.

“I don’t have a boyfriend at the moment, so it would be nice to think there would be a romance. I’ve seen pictures of the lads on the website, so I’m hoping to get a nice one,” she said.

Having watched the spectacle on TV during previous visits to Ireland, the blonde primary school teacher confessed that it had never been a lifelong ambition to enter the contest.

“When I saw it on TV a few years ago, I wasn’t something I would have seen myself doing, but I’m really enjoying it now,” she said.

Lapping up the last few days of her reign, last year’s winner, Perth-born Lisa Manning, explained that she’s not looking forward to handing over the crown next Tuesday night.

“I’ll be upset when I hand it over, because I’m quite emotional. I’ve been treated like a princess over the last year and I even got to tour Australia,” she said.

Working as a legal aide in the office of US senator Wayne Allard on Capitol Hill, Washington DC contestant, Joy Peck, is regarding the festival more as a cultural event rather than a pageant.

“There are no bikini’s, so it’s not a beauty pageant. I think it’s a great cultural event and it’s amazing to think how all our ancestors crossed paths at one time or another.”

The 28 contestants left Dublin yesterday afternoon for Kilkenny and Carlow.

They plan to visit Tipperary today, before departing for Tralee tomorrow morning.