2013 Mr Ennis title for Gerry Lane

THE search is finally over, this year’s Mr Ennis has been chosen. The title went to local man Gerry Lane, who wowed the judges at Friday’s finals in the Queens.

However, he wasn’t the only winner on the night, with €2,000 raised for charities TLC4CF and Laura Lynn Children’s Hospice.

Organiser Timmie Murphy, who presented the finals along with Ms Clare 2012 Hazel McMahon, said, “It was a fantastic night, it was a roaring success and we raised €2,000, which was the same as last year so we are very happy with that. The money will be divided between the two charities chosen by myself and Hazel and we were delighted to have Noel Colleran, who has cystic fibrosis, speak about his experiences.”

The competition was hotly contested, with all nine finalists being put through their paces by the judges for the VIP-themed event. As well as the competition itself, there were performances by Sparks hip hop dance crew and DJ Trevor White.

Taking the title for first runner-up was Ciaran Coote while second runner-up was Tola Culliney. Prizes also went to Lisa O’Connor, who won best-dressed female and Stephen Murphy, who was named best dressed male.

Speaking about Gerry’s win, Timmie said, “He competed last year but he didn’t make it into the top three so he said he would go again. He has started modelling this year after taking part in the competition last year. As part of his win he will have a photoshoot with Louise Brooks and he is in talks about doing a shoot in Cork. I’m delighted that he won because he really wanted it and I’m hoping the competition will open a lot of doors for him in modelling. The exposure he has already got on facebook has been huge.”

Timmie organised last year’s first Mr Ennis competition to raise funds for charity in his bid to be named Mr Gay Ireland. He went on to become the first ever Mr Gay Clare. He explained that for this year’s event he wanted to focus to be on the contestants.

“We held the competition for the first time last year and that was a great night but this year it was on a much bigger scale and it was a much slicker affair. We had a VIP theme, with all the guys in suits and lots of local businesses got involved, which was great.

“My title finished yesterday and it was a fantastic experience. Last year, the competition was more about me and having a once-off fundraiser but this year I wanted the competition to be about the lads of Ennis. We put all their photos up on facebook and you could see from the crowds that so many people had their own supporters. We’re going to do our best to get Gerry’s face out there now.

“I can definitely see this competition coming back next year, it’s just going from strength to strength. Next year it will be all about the men of Ennis and it’s just going to get bigger and bigger. We’ve had a great reaction so far and it can only get better.”