Colin's 2013 Rose turns out to be a Westmeath girl

The last thing Colin Draper expected when he was chosen as an escort for the Rose of Tralee was that his Rose would be from a few miles up the road.

While the 32 young women that took part in last month’s festival were from all over the world, Kilbeggan native Colin was paired with the Liverpool Rose Lisa O’Halloran from Athlone.

“It was by chance,” said Colin last week. “I don’t think the chaperone team knew where the girls were from originally. We were the only two Westmeath team involved in the whole thing and we ended up together. Luckily she’s a lovely girl. We’re the same age and I know some of her friends but we had never met before.”

While the thousands of festival goers that pack into Tralee for the week-long festival were in holiday mode, Colin and his fellow escorts were busy from early in the morning until the Roses’ curfew between midnight and 1am.

“You had to take care of your Rose, all the time. First there’s safety, then as the week goes on and it gets closer to the television show, it gets a bit stressful. So it’s your job to keep them upbeat and keep them positive.” In addition to escorting their Roses at all times, even when they were going to meet their families or going to the bathroom, the escorts had to ensure that they were immaculately attired.

The organisers’ attention to detail was a “real eye-opener”, Colin says. “You weren’t allowed to take your jacket off unless all the escorts were taking their jackets off. You had to wait to get a nod from the top table. You just had to buy into it and after the first couple of times you just got used to it.”

With a busy schedule, sleep was at a premium but teacher Colin, who started work in his new school in Luton this week, says he’s already looking forward to making it down to Kerry next summer.

“It) was my first Rose of Tralee but it won’t be my last. It was tough going but a great experience... I could re-apply next year and I might, but I will have to give it a lot more thought. Either way I will still be down there.”