Canadian-born Miss Ireland stripped of title for being too old
The Canadian-born recipient of the Miss Ireland crown has been stripped of her title due to 11th hour revelations she is too old.
On Saturday, Maire Hughes, a dark horse contestant representing the Irish county of Mayo, surged ahead of 34 other Irishwomen to claim the crown at a Dublin ceremony.
Ms. Hughes was to represent the Emerald Isle at the 62nd annual Miss World pageant in Inner Mongolia, China. Until, at a post-pageant meeting, organizers suddenly discovered Ms. Hughes is only weeks away from her 26th birthday, narrowly putting her outside the pageant criteria requiring contestants to between 17 and 25 year of age.
“At the meeting it transpired Miss Hughes is 25 but would be 26 going to Inner Mongolia to represent Ireland,” reads a statement released this week by organizer Sean Montague. “Unfortunately,” it reads. “Miss Hughes doesn’t meet the criteria.”
Ms. Hughes’ profile states that she was “born in Canada” and grew up in Galway. She currently lives in the town of Athenry with Massachusetts-born boyfriend Stephen O’Connor.
“I made no attempt to conceal my age,” Ms. Hughes told Ireland’s Evening Herald on Wednesday. “I did notice that there was an age requirement and I made an enquiry with a Miss Ireland representative. In the course of a telephone conversation I was advised by one of the representatives that this was not a significant issue.”
She suspects that the Miss Ireland producers were simply misinformed. On Sunday, after Mr. Montague told her she was out of the running she said, “it was clear to me that this came as a surprise to him and for the first time I was told this was a significant problem and I was too old.”
Catwalk Modelling, the Galway-based based agency that recruited Ms. Hughes, released a statement on Tuesday saying that “the agency acted in good faith throughout the process and is very disappointed with the way that matters unfolded.”
Belfast’s Rebecca Maguire, the competition’s 20-year-old runner-up, has been pegged to take Ms. Hughes’ place. “My heart goes out to Marie. It’s a big shock, but I’m delighted. I can’t wait to go to China,” Ms. Maguire told the Belfast Telegraph.
Pamela Flood, a well-known Irish TV presenter – and winner of the 1993 Miss Ireland crown – on Wednesday called for the age limit to be boosted to 30. “I feel so sorry for her, to win something and have it snatched away,” she told Irish media.
The last time an Irishwoman claimed the Miss World title was 2003, when 19-year-old contestant Rosanna Davison took the crown at a ceremony in China, which had only recently lifted a 1940s-era ban on beauty pageants. Second place was Canadian Nazanin Afshin-Jam, a human rights activist who is now married to Defence Minister Peter MacKay
Ms. Hughes’ dethronement is the third technicality scandal to strike the beauty pageant circuit in recent weeks. Last week, just days after Carlina Duran was crowned Miss Dominican Republic in preparation for the Miss Universe pageant – a rival to the Miss World pageant – was stripped of her crown after it was revealed she is married. Both the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants strictly prohibit married women.
The Donald Trump-owned Miss Universe pageant was also launched into the spotlight in March when Jenna Talackova, a B.C. woman born as a male, was barred from competing in a Canadian qualifying tournament because she was not a “natural born” female. After a storm of criticism, and a legal challenge brought by U.S. celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, Ms. Talackova was reinstated.
National Post
• Email: thopper@nationalpost.com
On Saturday, Maire Hughes, a dark horse contestant representing the Irish county of Mayo, surged ahead of 34 other Irishwomen to claim the crown at a Dublin ceremony.
Ms. Hughes was to represent the Emerald Isle at the 62nd annual Miss World pageant in Inner Mongolia, China. Until, at a post-pageant meeting, organizers suddenly discovered Ms. Hughes is only weeks away from her 26th birthday, narrowly putting her outside the pageant criteria requiring contestants to between 17 and 25 year of age.
“At the meeting it transpired Miss Hughes is 25 but would be 26 going to Inner Mongolia to represent Ireland,” reads a statement released this week by organizer Sean Montague. “Unfortunately,” it reads. “Miss Hughes doesn’t meet the criteria.”
Ms. Hughes’ profile states that she was “born in Canada” and grew up in Galway. She currently lives in the town of Athenry with Massachusetts-born boyfriend Stephen O’Connor.
“I made no attempt to conceal my age,” Ms. Hughes told Ireland’s Evening Herald on Wednesday. “I did notice that there was an age requirement and I made an enquiry with a Miss Ireland representative. In the course of a telephone conversation I was advised by one of the representatives that this was not a significant issue.”
She suspects that the Miss Ireland producers were simply misinformed. On Sunday, after Mr. Montague told her she was out of the running she said, “it was clear to me that this came as a surprise to him and for the first time I was told this was a significant problem and I was too old.”
Catwalk Modelling, the Galway-based based agency that recruited Ms. Hughes, released a statement on Tuesday saying that “the agency acted in good faith throughout the process and is very disappointed with the way that matters unfolded.”
Belfast’s Rebecca Maguire, the competition’s 20-year-old runner-up, has been pegged to take Ms. Hughes’ place. “My heart goes out to Marie. It’s a big shock, but I’m delighted. I can’t wait to go to China,” Ms. Maguire told the Belfast Telegraph.
Pamela Flood, a well-known Irish TV presenter – and winner of the 1993 Miss Ireland crown – on Wednesday called for the age limit to be boosted to 30. “I feel so sorry for her, to win something and have it snatched away,” she told Irish media.
The last time an Irishwoman claimed the Miss World title was 2003, when 19-year-old contestant Rosanna Davison took the crown at a ceremony in China, which had only recently lifted a 1940s-era ban on beauty pageants. Second place was Canadian Nazanin Afshin-Jam, a human rights activist who is now married to Defence Minister Peter MacKay
Ms. Hughes’ dethronement is the third technicality scandal to strike the beauty pageant circuit in recent weeks. Last week, just days after Carlina Duran was crowned Miss Dominican Republic in preparation for the Miss Universe pageant – a rival to the Miss World pageant – was stripped of her crown after it was revealed she is married. Both the Miss World and Miss Universe pageants strictly prohibit married women.
The Donald Trump-owned Miss Universe pageant was also launched into the spotlight in March when Jenna Talackova, a B.C. woman born as a male, was barred from competing in a Canadian qualifying tournament because she was not a “natural born” female. After a storm of criticism, and a legal challenge brought by U.S. celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, Ms. Talackova was reinstated.
National Post
• Email: thopper@nationalpost.com
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