Katelyn Cummins was crowned Rose of Tralee on Tuesday evening and it has been non stop for her ever since.
Following her win in The Dome, she was whisked away for a celebration in Tralee that went on until the early hours of this morning.
After about 20 minutes sleep, she was back again to address the media.
Something which Katelyn hadn’t spoken about before now was the fact that she uses a hearing aid.
Speaking about it today, Katelyn said that she didn’t want this story to be about her disability.
She said: “I suppose having a hearing disability does have its challenges as well, but I wanted to make this experience about me and not about my disability.
“I wanted to make it about me, my personality and everything else and not just about my disability.”
Katelyn made history last night as she was crowned the first ever Rose of Tralee from Laois – something she wasn’t aware of.
She said: “It is unbelievable, to be honest. I only found that out this morning that I’m the first ever. I never knew that.
“It’s incredible and I’m so honoured to be able to have that title.”
And what about a homecoming?
Katelyn said: “We’re thinking maybe Saturday night in Ballyouskill.
“I’m not fully, 100% sure yet, but when I do know, we’ll probably send it out the details to everyone.”
