The pale sunlight was rising as the Roses bloomed in the garden

THE pale sun was rising above the aptly-named Montrose yesterday as the countdown to this year’s Rose of Tralee began near the non-crystal fountain in RTÉ headquarters.

The 26 contestants got their first taste of the collective spotlight as they gathered in Dublin for the start of a hectic week.

A blooming good time is certainly on the menu as each Rose sets out to make a good impression on the townsfolk of Tralee as well as the panel of judges.

Eighteen Roses from England, Australia, the US, Dubai, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Canada flew into Ireland earlier this week to join the eight Irish entrants at a hotel in Killiney.

The contest’s new host, Ryan Tubridy, availed of the photo-call at RTÉ yesterday to introduce himself to the Roses.

Buoyed by figures showing his 2FM Full Irish show was one of the few RTÉ radio programmes to boost its listenership over the past year, Mr Tubridy chatted away to the girls.

The Roses then left for the relative tranquillity of a two-day tour before arriving in Tralee on Friday.

More than 200,000 people are expected to visit the town for the 45th year of the festival, which runs from August 22-26.

Live broadcasts of this year’s contest will be shown on RTÉ One at 8pm on Monday and Tuesday next week with Mr Tubridy in the hothouse as TV audiences are set to measure his performance against previous presenters, Marty Whelan and Gay Byrne.

The successor to 2002 Rose Tamara Gervasoni will receive, as part of her prize, €5,000 cash, a round-the-world trip, car hire for a year and a crystal trophy.