Miss Ireland stripped of crown

The newly crowned Miss Ireland, Marie Hughes, has been stripped of her title after it emerged she was too old — at 25.

Miss Mayo Marie was declared the winner of the pageant on Saturday night, to much fanfare, but yesterday she was forced to hand over her crown to the runner-up, Rebecca Maguire, after it was revealed she was outside the strict age criteria for the event.

Marie will be 26 on her next birthday. The cut-off age from entering the beauty contest is 24.