Guns ’n’ Roses to blow away audiences

GET ready for Guns n’ Roses in the dome in Kerry next week — as three cops take to the stage to contest this year’s Rose of Tralee.

The 31 finalists for this year’s event will feel extremely safe as they tour the country over the next seven days with a strong police presence in their entourage.

Host Ray D’Arcy got into a spot of trouble last year when he asked the Texas Rose whether she was in favour of the death penalty.

But this year, he will be on his best behaviour: “There’s three cops in the group, and there’s a lorry-load of attorneys. About seven of them are solicitors or lawyers. So they’re going to be a little cagey. I expect, things like: Why are you asking that? Who wants to know? Is there a contract involved?” he joked.

D’Arcy, who is hosting the contest for the third year, said Orla Neff, 26, the Perth Rose “carries three weapons around her waist, and she seems so nice and friendly”.

Orla was born in Cork and moved to the Western Australian city when she was nine months old, where she now works as a police officer.

“I do what we call general duties in Perth so it’s pretty much everything: on the beat, in patrol cars, very much hands-on, front-line work. I carry a gun, a baton and a stun gun as well. I said to Ray you know what I can do, and I think he’s too scared.”

She admitted that entering the Rose of Tralee is not very police-like behaviour: “I’ve been getting awful stick about it. I got a transfer a few weeks ago to another police station.

“So all my posters are up in the room where we have lunch and all the guys are taking the mickey out of me, asking me if there’s a swim suit section,” she said.

Birmingham Rose, Constable Aimee Porch, 22, is also putting up with a bit of slagging from her fellow police: “They’ve been looking through the papers and picking out their favourite girls, and I say ‘what about me, I’m supposed to be your favourite’,” she said.

Aimee said she does not carry a gun in her job, much to the surprise of Boston Rose, Nora Rafferty, 25, who is a member of the Boston Transit police force.

Nora remembers watching the Rose of Tralee at the age of four, when her cousin, Helena Rafferty (also a cop) was crowned the 1985 Rose.

D’Arcy said the contest has changed a lot since then and cannot be perceived as old-fashioned: “I don’t think that’s any trouble at all because they are all modern girls. The fact that three of them are cops, six or seven are attorneys.

“The Southern California Rose, Aileen Whelan, is studying biotechnology and she’s also studying patents. So she’s going to be at the cutting-edge of the biotechnology industry in America,” he said.

“The fact that they are all modern, that keeps it very relevant.”

New Zealand Rose, Sarah Dwyer, 27, has learnt how to speak the Irish, a skill she hopes to use this week.

“I’ve been researching Irish migration to New Zealand and the contribution they have made to making our nation what it is today. They were a huge part of the people who came out and set up the infrastructure and they brought skills with them that were needed to develop the land,” she said.

The Rose of Tralee selection will take place on Monday and Tuesday, August 20 and 21.