Rose Festival escorts report for duty

A man has to be tough in order to survive a week at one of the country’s longest-running festivals and prove he was what it takes before being allowed to chaperone elegant young women.

From building sand castles to swimming with sharks, a group of young men have been tested to their limits at the Rose of Tralee escort boot camp, with 32 rising to all the challenges.

Two from Cork — city man John McLoughlin, a teacher, and Desmond O’Callaghan, a business student from Mallow — have made the grade, along with just one Kerryman, Mark Sheehy, a keen golfer from Tralee.