One of the standout moments of this year's Rose of Tralee festival was the Sydney Rose making a call for a referendum to repeal the eighth amendment. Brianna Parkins caused quite the stir with many taking to Twitter to both praise and criticise her actions.
No doubt about it, Parkins was definitely putting the crown on the line in making the controversial remarks, with chair of the Rose of Tralee Mary Kennedy telling the Irish Independent; "This was a point that she (Brianna) wanted to make but I don't think it's the place to do it. I don't think the Rose of Tralee is necessarily a political platform," Mary said.
So a festival celebrating women in Ireland is no place to discuss human rights issues affecting women in Ireland. Right.
Mary did add that Brianna's words did not affect the final decision.
Pro Life Campaign spokesperson Cora Sherlock said she didn't think it necessary to "politicise the festival", and that "you can't dip your toe into the abortion debate. This is the Rose of Tralee, not Prime Time."
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Parkins said afterwards that it was the 'Two Women Travel' Twitter account over the weekend that was in her mind when she said her comments; "When he (Daithí) brought up women's rights it just came to my head and came out. It seemed natural to talk about, as a women's rights campaigner… I think when you have a festival of 65 women it would be unfair to say you cannot talk about women's issues and women's rights. That just doesn't wash."
Adding that the 65 contestants were "strong women with strong opinions" who don't just "talk about handbags".
