Miss Universe Ireland Hots Up...

The Irish media are having a field-day with the defection of Andrea Roche from the Miss Ireland contest over to the Miss Universe Ireland contest. The question is: in ten years time will we be referring to lovely ladies in magazines and newspapers as "former Miss Ireland" or "former Miss Universe Ireland"? Only time will tell...

Adele Silva, Leah O'Reilly (Winner Miss HotSpots.ie)

This week saw two stunners crowned Miss Hotspots.ie and Miss Afterdark.ie in the heats for Miss Universe Ireland. This time last year it would have been for Miss Ireland... With all the same hullabaloo, sponsors, models, and media seamlessly switching loyalty from one brand of event to another, we reckon they should just cut out the middleman and call the contest 'Miss Andrea Roche'.

Adele Silva, Lauren Connolly (1st Runner Up)

Why you say? Well let's face it; Andrea is the common denominator for success in these two beauty pageants. The infrastructure and template she developed for Miss Ireland is hers; the name of the show doesn't seem to matter. Sure, before last week we had never even heard of 'Miss Universe Ireland', now it's all over the press and we've all jumped on the bandwagon.

Adele Silva, Rachel McCahey (2nd Runner Up)

Andrea's formula is thus: she brings in her media friendly model friends from Assets and the odd UK celebrity to judge the heats. This gets the press chomping at the bit and gets her the vital coverage. Andrea then throws a big glam bash, attended by the great-and-the-good, to pick the winner and everyone goes nuts. Simple yet effective.

Adele Silva with Miss Universe Ireland contestants

We're not too sure what the ins-and-outs of Rochey's departure from the Miss Ireland franchise are, but the media are loving it. It's giving her latest venture all the controversy and hype any event promoter could wish for... Sadly, it would seem, it may also sound the death-knell for the traditional Miss Ireland contest, leading us to ask - would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?

Judges: Sara Kavanagh, Pippa O'Connor, Michele McGrath

Perhaps. But in a year which has already seen the demise of the traditional Eurovision qualification process with Dustin the Turkey stealing the Irish entry, the potential loss of the Miss Ireland crown is a bitter pill to swallow. Out with the old...

Leah O'Reilly - Miss HotSpots.ie

Two girls have already qualified for the Miss Universe Ireland finals - Leah O'Reilly (Miss HotSpots.ie) & Julie Kavanagh (Miss Afterdark.ie). The rest, we're sure, will be announced in the coming days and weeks.

Adele Silva

If Miss Universe Ireland totally eclipses Miss Ireland this year and even ends its popularity in this country, there still is a glimmer of hope for the traditional beauty contest... All it would take is Andrea Roche's magic touch to return and in the blink of an eye, it would be back on top... We're a fickle bunch us Irish, aren't we?