THE judging panel, tasked with selecting the next Rose of Tralee has been announced, made up of a Rose of Tralee, an RTÉ star, a councillor and an international fashion designer to the stars.

The 2024 Selection panel will be chaired this year by 1998 Rose of Tralee, Luzveminda O’Sullivan with fashion designer Don O’Neill, RTE’s Nuala Carey and broadcaster Ollie Turner making up the quartet.

Luzveminda, a native of Castlebar, Co Mayo, is a chemist in the pharmaceutical industry with more than 20 years’ experience and still returns to the Festival as often as possible since her win 26 years ago in 1998.

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Returning to the panel this year is Nuala Carey of RTÉ Weather and National Lottery fame. Another returning member of the Judging Panel for 2024 is Ollie Turner – a Galway broadcaster who has been head of Sport with Galway Bay FM since 2000 and was recently elected as a local councillor in Co Galway.

The final member of the 2024 Judging Panel is international fashion designer to the stars and proud Kerryman, Don O’Neill. Don recently relocated home to Ireland with his husband Pascal Guillermie, having spent 30 years in New York, and has recently been elected to the board of the Design and Craft Council of Ireland, where his goal is to give back to the makers in Ireland.

Don says: “I am beyond excited to be an International judge in the 2024 Rose of Tralee – a Festival I have loved for as long as I can remember and grew to love even more when I moved to New York, coming to know and admire the extraordinary Roses down through the years. I am really looking forward to working alongside Nuala, Mindy and Ollie and can’t wait to meet this year’s wonderful Roses. The experience of a lifetime awaits us all!”

There will be 32 Roses taking part in this year’s Rose of Tralee International Festival, all hoping to impress this fantastic panel of judges. The National Rose Tour begins on Sunday the 11th of August, with the Festival itself taking place from Friday the 16th to Tuesday the 20th of August.

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