NEWMARKET’S Sarah McInerney will be representing Ohio in the 2022 Rose of Tralee, which returns after a two-year hiatus on next Monday and Tuesday.
The 30-year-old recently completed her studies in Cleveland, and is now working there in her chosen field of Biomimicry.
Speaking to the Champion on Wednesday, Sarah’s mother Denise was looking forward to seeing her daughter being interviewed by Dáithí Ó Sé.
“Sure, we’re all excited! We were blackguarding her a while back when she was studying in Cleveland. I said go on and enter it for the craic, we’ll see how you go. She said ‘ah no, no’. Then she did and next thing she said ‘you won’t believe it Mam, I got it’.”
Biomimicry is an interdisciplinary practice, which mimics natural strategies to create more sustainable solutions, and Denise says that Sarah is hugely passionate about it.
“She was googling Biomimicry here, she wanted to study it, but she could find no college that would do that programme. The two of us were looking and I said what about this place in America?
“She looked it up, it was in Cleveland, she applied, they brought her over to have a look and see if she’d like it. It was a five-year doctorate, a PhD.
“It was a long time, but she said, ‘it’s what I want to do’. I said, ‘well, off you go’.”
Sarah finished the course some months ago and is now working in the area.
“She finished at Christmas and started to look for jobs. She got a job with the Biomimicry Institute, which is brilliant and she loves it.”
She plays Gaelic football and camogie in Cleveland, while other hobbies she lists include yoga, horse riding, paddle boarding, off-roading and camping.
It will be the first Rose of Tralee since 2019, and it will be hosted by Dáithí Ó Sé for the eleventh time, with Gay Byrne being the only person to have done it more often.
Speaking ahead of the event, the Kerry man, who now lives in Peterswell, said, “I am really excited that the Rose of Tralee International Festival returns this year, I think we all really missed it. I do feel like it’s another sign of things getting back to normal. I am looking forward to meeting the incredible 33 International Roses.
“I also cannot wait to go back to Tralee to see everyone take to the streets on Saturday night and presenting the shows on Monday and Tuesday where we will have a few surprises up our sleeves as well when it comes to the party pieces.”
Owen Ryan has been a journalist with the Clare Champion since 2007, having previously worked with a number of other publications in Limerick, Cork and Galway. His first book will be published in December 2024.