Skibbereens Maria in bid to win Miss Cork title

Maria Connolly relaxing near her home at Union Hall with her mother, Mary Deasy.

THE Southern Star is delighted to be sponsoring Maria Connolly from Skibbereen in her bid to claim the Miss Cork title this weekend in Cork.

The former Mercy Heights student Maria, (23), is a daughter of well-known business woman Mary Deasy who runs a hair salon in Skibbereen. Maria is a graduate of CIT in Cork, having studied IT Management, and is currently working in Open Text in Clonakilty.

‘She entered the competition by sending in a photograph, and got a call back to say she had been accepted,’ her mum Mary Deasy told the Star. The finals take place this Saturday night (March 21^st) in the Fota Island resort at Little Island.

While many of the finalists in this year’s competition would have a modeling background, Maria has no catwalk experience, but that hasn’t stopped her being a very serious contender for the position. ‘I have always been very interested in modeling,’ Maria told the Star. But her main love is sailing – she is one of seven crew on a yacht called Jostler (J92), based in Kinsale.

She participates in races and is looking forward to taking part in the Sovereigns Cup in June, but Maria is also a keen runner. She recently started work as a technical analyst with Open Text - the global leader in Enterprise Information Management. It provides services to a customer base of close to 50,000, with 3 million users worldwide.

Her sister, Katie, did a masters in Business Economics and has just returned to college to study a course in Beauty Therapy.

The Miss Cork final, organised by the Pulse Model Agency, takes place at the Fota Island Resort Hotel on Saturday night, at 7.30 pm, and there may still be some tickets available at the door.

‘I want to say a big “thank you” to my main sponsor, The Southern Star and to all my other sponsors, including Mary Deasy’s Hair Salon, The Beauty Spot, Sassy Dresses and Top Image,’ said Maria.