The new Dublin Rose is Maria Coughlan, a 25-year-old school teacher from Malahide.
The youngest of three children, Maria teaches at St Vincent de Paul Infant School on Griffith Avenue. She is a champion Irish dancer, having retired last year as a two-time World Champion, five-time All Ireland Champion and three-time Dublin Regional Champion.
She has recently set up her own school, the Coughlan School of Irish Dancing. Maria came out on top of a pool of 47 Roses, 24 of whom qualified for the Dublin Rose Grand Final, hosted by RTE’s Marty Morrissey at the Crowne Plaza Dublin Airport Hotel.
Maria will now go on to represent the capital at the 2017 International Rose of Tralee Festival in Kerry in August as the Dublin Rose. Maria is pictured with her proud parents, Brendan and Mary.