Katelyn Cummins is the headline story of the week, locally and nationally.
On Tuesday night, she was crowned the international Rose of Tralee, the overall winner from the iconic festival.
Last April she was selected as the Laois Rose and this latest success caps a whirlwind couple of months.
From Ballyouskil, just across the Laois-Kilkenny border, she grew up on a dairy farm and works as an apprentice electrician with Alpha Drives in Portlaoise.
Though she has become a national figure overnight, it’s worth listening back to her podcast interview with us in LaoisToday last April.
On that occasion, she had come straight from work for this interview, where she is an apprentice electrician with Alpha Drives in Portlaoise.
She chats about working in a male-dominated industry, her upbringing on the family dairy farm and her love of camogie and dancing.
As well as that she discusses the thrill of being crowned Laois Rose, what it means to her family and why they can’t all wait to get to Tralee for the iconic festival in August.
SEE ALSO – Check out the dedicated Podcast section on the LaoisToday website
