Errigal College Irish teacher, Mr Eamonn Collum is heading back to school after a busy August as an escort at this year’s Rose of Tralee festival.
The Irish teacher will have plenty of stories for his students, recalling the pressure to look like James Bond and to fulfill duties like carrying handbags for a week!
Mr Collum enjoyed the festival immensely and is looking forward to a year of Rose related events all over the world, including trips to Germany and New York.
“It was a busy, intense week and we didn’t get a break at all. We had to attend loads of different events and were bussed from here to there to everywhere. Always in a hurry and often having to change clothes.
“I had to put on a tuxedo and turn myself out to look like James Bond; and I only had ten minutes to do it every day! It was exhausting but it was well worth it because it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience!”
Becoming an escort in the Rose of Tralee is the hope of many young men and Eamonn had to go through a number of interviews and tests before being selected.
He applied in January and went through a ‘Skype’ interview in March. He then qualified for two interviews: one was a group interview and also an individual single. The final interview was a week in Bootcamp in Kerry.
Despite the fact that Eamonn had broken his leg in a staff-student match in May, he had made such a good impression on the judges that he was one of the 65 escorts selected.
“The most important job for an escort is to be there for your Rose, at all times. I chaperoned the Rose of Western Canada, Sinead McGahern for the first few days,and then the Rose of Limerick, Kayleigh Maher for the remainder of the festival. Escorts have to be courteous and polite. Sometimes I even had to carry my Rose’s handbag.
“We were under pressure all the time, but we knew that the Roses were under a lot more pressure so we never had time to think about ourselves.”
“One of the highlights of my week was when my two colleagues from Errigal College arrived in Tralee. Martin McGrory and David McHale made the long journey south and were the perfect distraction from my busy escort duties.”
“The festival is over, and this week we got back to work in Errigal College. I love the school and my Irish classes and will be spending time telling my students about the Rós festival!”
Errigal College Principal, Mr Charlie Cannon spoke of his pride in Mr Collum: “We are delighted that the world got to see one of our teachers rising to the challenge of being a busy escort for the festival. Eamonn is a great Irish teacher and we just knew he would have no problem handling the pressure,” he said.