Glasson's Eva is new Westmeath Rose

Glasson is known as the 'Village of Roses' and it has certainly lived up to its billing at the weekend as Eva Cooney (22) was crowned Westmeath Rose at the selection event in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Athlone.

'It's all a bit surreal. It was amazing, I was just over the moon and surprised because they (the organisers) said it was very hard to choose,' said Eva as she reflected on her new title and the exciting summer ahead of her.

But for the next few days the Glasson girl, who is daughter of local solicitor Mark Cooney and his wife Anne, and grand daughter of former Minister for Justice Paddy Cooney, will have her head stuck in the books as she starts her final year exams in psychology in Trinity College next week.

Asked how she got involved in the Westmeath Rose competition, she said her mother actually saw the notice about the event in this paper and urged her to enter.

Although initially laughing at the idea, the young student explained that after looking into it a bit more she decided it could be fun and decided to just go for it.

Now the bubbly Westmeath Rose has an exciting summer to look forward to as she, and plenty of friends and family, will decamp to Tralee from August 16 to 22 next for the world-famous festival.

'Everyone is over the moon. I've been getting calls all weekend,' added Eva, who grandfather is actually from Kerry and he is using her win as an excuse to return to his native home having lived away for years.

But he won't be the only one as she, along with lots of family and friends are already trying to book places to stay for the duration of the festival.

'It's all go...That week will be brilliant, it's great that we all get to go to Tralee now with no regional finals,' she enthused, thanking her sponsors Custom Cuts for their help.