Three Mayo Misses crowned with glory at Miss Ireland 2021

MAYO was front and centre on Sunday night on the Miss Ireland stage as three proud Mayo girls were crowned with glory.

The newly crowned Miss Ireland, Pamela Uba (25), grew up in Ballyhaunis. Miss Mayo, Laura Martin (25), also did the county proud as Beauty with a Purpose winner in recognition of all of her charity work, while Miss Claremorris, Olivia Barret (21), who hails from Claremorris, finished in the top eight finalists.

Our radiant new Miss Ireland Pamela Uba's eloquent parlance, gentle demeanour and kind nature belies her towering strength and determination.

Pamela grew up in direct provision after moving to Ireland with her family from South Africa when she was just eight years old. Today, a very proud Irish citizen and a graduate of Trinity College with a masters degree in clinical chemistry, Pamela has spent the last two years working on the front line as a medical scientist at Galway University Hospital.

Pamela hopes to use her Miss Ireland title to represent a more diverse Island on the world stage and believes education is a superpower.

Pamela was crowned by three former Miss Irelands - Lauren McDonagh, Aoife O'Sullivan and Rebecca Maguire - and she will proudly sport her Mayo jersey this weekend cheering for the green and red of Mayo at Croke Park.

Laura Martin is a marketing and design manager for Sweeney Oil and has just completed her masters degree in computer science. She is originally from Cork but moved to the west of Ireland three years ago to start her career.

Laura is a youth mentor in Mayo with Foroige’s Big Brother Big Sister programme, an internationally recognised youth mentoring programme that helps to form supportive friendships for young people and inspire them to brighter futures.

Laura has successfully run several fundraising events in recent years, from raising over €1,700 for Pieta House in March 2020, when they had to cancel their Darkness into Light event - Laura did a 30 km run around Castlebar to raise awareness and funds. She has also organised over 800 new toys for Airc Mayo, an organisation for children with disabilities, and has also raised over €800 for ISPCC by holding her own sleep-out.

Laura uses her social media to help raise awareness about health, mental health and education and she also runs a free service to help people with their CVs and to help them get interviews and land a job.

Laura was thrilled to accept the Beauty with a Purpose sash in recognition of her charity work.

Miss Claremorris, Olivia Barrett, is currently studying criminal justice at the University of Limerick and would like to become a barrister. She was thrilled to finish in the top eight finalists and wowed judges throughout the competition.

The 30 finalists this year were put through their paces in a challenging competitive process over the last three months testing their skills in debating, public speaking, talent, sports, modelling, social media and each finalist was tasked with raising much-needed awareness and funds for their chosen charities.

Established in 1947, Miss Ireland has been the launch pad for many eminent, successful, and inspiring women in Ireland. In recent years the Miss Ireland franchise has raised almost €300,000 for various charities including Laura Lynn, Temple Street, Alzheimer’s Ireland, Pieta House, The Cari Foundation and this year are proud to partner with Variety Ireland, an Irish charity helping sick, disadvantaged and children with special needs since 1951.

Diversity was very apparent at Miss Ireland this year with an eclectic mix of finalists from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds - perhaps a reflection of a new generation and a new Ireland. The finalists vying for the coveted crown were already a highly educated and accomplished group with a mix of professions and aspirations in fields such as medical science, criminal justice, chartered accountancy, international business, performance arts, medicine, psychiatric nursing, biotechnology, nutrition, physiotherapy, HR, digital marketing, biomedical science, veterinary, law and international show jumping.

Proud sponsors of this year's Miss Ireland included VanityX Makeup Academy, Mane 'n Tail, Simply Divine, ONEFIT, Hairitage, Choicely, The Headford Arms Hotel, Lash Dolls Beauty and Training Academy and Lakeside Manor Hotel.