Connie sheds 7st 11lb and wins top prize

BOASTING larger-than-life cardboard cut-outs of themselves and broad smiles, the finalists for the slimmer of the year accolade had their anxious wait for a result ended yesterday.

Like the Rose of Tralee, it is not appearance that wins the prize but the judges’ impressions of personal stories behind each contestant.

And yesterday in Dublin’s IFSC it was Connie Harding from Killaloe, Co Clare, who was crowned Unislimmer of the year with her story which inspired her to lose almost eight stone.