Rose hopes to help others come out

She knows fessing up to being Tralee’s first gay Rose has caused a "little bit of a scandal" but if her honesty helps even one young person come out, she’ll consider it a job well done.

So said Philly Rose Maria Walsh on the Late Late Show last night in a display of such wholesomeness that even the most hardened homophobic could hardly fail to be won over.

Unfazed by any of the questions thrown at her, the new Rose responded with “On a Sunday what else is there to do but come out?” when asked how she felt about the Sunday newspapers revealing her sexuality.