Daithi O'Se

Rose of Tralee presenter Dáithí O Se on the return of the famous festival, the moment he'll never forget, celebrating 10 years of marriage with wife Rita ...

“Just not being allowed to go outside the 5km was tough on people, especially older people — and the restaurants and pubs being closed. He said, “We certainly did [get to spend more time together]. All the events at the weekends were gone — I’d have had something every weekend, before the pandemic. I like going to meet the lads at the weekend for a few pints in the evening, and I missed that. “It’s 10 years and it’s just one of those things that creeps up on you. “But the advice I’d have for anyone going out for the Rose of Tralee is to enjoy it. “So they came out, anyway, and the candles on the cake were lit and they start singing, ‘happy birthday to you’ — but it wasn’t even her birthday. And of course, we have the added thing that we’ve got the Sam Maguire in Kerry as well — it’s a very unique thing to have, especially at this time of year. They like it because they know that something is going to happen — you’re going to have a winner at the end of it all. “I really think that’s a real sense of excitement about it this year. He said, “I think that people like it because it means different things to different people. “At the time, I was down in Tralee recording a kind of look back at my first ten years as the host," he continued. He recalled, “I remember when we got the news in 2020 to say that there was no Rose of Tralee, we were extremely disappointed.