Rose of Tralee - Viewers are real judges

The Rose of Tralee returned to our television screens last night with a new compere, Dáithi O Sé, the tenth host since the competition began 51 years ago.

The contest was one of the first to recognise the importance of retaining our links with the Irish diaspora. Young women of Irish ancestry will be taking part from around the world.

If the past is anything to go by, the critics will lacerate both the programme and the compere. Gay Byrne, who hosted it for more than 20 years, could only remember one good review in all the years, but each programme attracted one the highest ratings of any television programme produced by RTÉ that year.