ROSE OF TRALEE - Boss joked: ‘Don’t come back with the crown’

Stunning new Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh has already captured the hearts of the nation and her adopted home in Philadelphia, but that doesn’t mean everyone is jumping for joy about her success.

Speaking in the picturesque rose garden in the centre of Tralee town hours after a nail-biting finale, t she admitted the sudden career change for the next 12 months may be slightly difficult to explain to her boss.

After leaving to take part in “this crazy Irish contest” (her words not ours, we swear) the 27-year-old’s manager at Philadelphia-based fashion firm Anthropologie gave her his blessing.