Dublin Rose Suad Mooge has spoken about the “horrible” racist abuse she faced online after being selected to represent Dublin at this year’s Rose of Tralee.
The 26-year-old medical scientist was subjected to racist comments online earlier this year, but said she has chosen to focus on the support she received from the Rose of Tralee community rather than the negativity.
Speaking to The Irish Times at St Helen’s Hotel in Dublin on Tuesday, Mooge said: “It’s horrible and I suppose, especially in the day and age that we live in, a lot of these online websites – Twitter and whatnot – they are not regulated."
“People are saying some horrible stuff on there, but again you can’t focus on that.”
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Mooge also made clear that the abuse did not come from within the Rose of Tralee community, which she said rallied around her following the incident.
“Everyone from the Rose of Tralee community has been so supportive of me, especially when all of that happened,” she told The Irish Times.
“They kind of stepped forward and were fighting my corner.”
She added: “There was a lot of negativity but the positivity and all that support has kind of drowned that out and changed the narrative, changed the perspective.
“I am focusing on the positive, not the negative.”
Mooge was speaking during the Roses’ whirlwind tour of Ireland ahead of this year’s festival, which will see the contestants travel across the country before arriving in Tralee for the Moonlight Parade on Sunday.
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The main Rose of Tralee selection will take place on television on August 18th and 19th, with Dáithí Ó Sé and Kathryn Thomas returning to present the event.
More than half a million people watched last year’s competition, when Laois electrician Katelyn Cummins was crowned the 2025 Rose of Tralee.
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Mooge, who is of Somali heritage, was born in Sligo and raised in Dublin. She grew up watching the festival on television but never imagined she could one day take part.
She recalled: “I would have been watching it when I was growing up and I never would have thought, ‘Oh, that’s something I could do’.
“But I want to be the rose that younger me could have seen on TV and thought ‘that could be me one day’.”
The Dublin Rose is not the only contestant hoping to highlight greater diversity within the festival this year.
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Kildare Rose Jessica Hunter also spoke to The Irish Times about growing up Irish-Asian in Kildare town and the challenges she experienced.
“I definitely did struggle a little bit growing up,” she said.
“I’m from a small town. It was never the easiest thing but it’s definitely helped me shape who I am as a person. I’ve taken great pride in it because it makes me who I am and I am unique for that.”
Hunter’s mother is Irish while her father is from Hong Kong, and she said she has lived in Kildare town all her life.
She hopes her participation can also show younger people that they do not have to fit a particular image to take part in the festival.
“I suppose I always wanted to be that kind of role model for anybody to look up to and realise that you don’t have to be what we would always assume to be a perfect rose,” she told The Irish Times.
“It’s never just one box that you have to fit into. You can come as you are and have a seat at the table and you deserve to be there – and that is in everything in life.”
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Hunter, who works as cabin crew for Aer Lingus and Emirates, also said she believes the festival has become increasingly diverse.
“I can definitely say that the Rose of Tralee has come so far and we are so diverse now, which is beautiful to see,” she said.
