00:00Erin McCormack, you are a teacher here at St Anthony Primary School in Craigavon.
00:05Tell me about yourself and your pupils here.
00:09So I've been a substitute teacher here since last year and then went off to have my baby
00:16and then was invited back after my maternity leave, which is amazing because we're not always guaranteed
00:23long-term work when you're a substitute so it's been really lovely to be asked back again
00:29and had so many months of P7s before they head off to secondary school.
00:33They're good to teach?
00:34Oh, they're lovely to teach. They're lots of fun, lots of big personalities and we're getting to do some really fun things
00:42now that we're on the last few weeks before summer so we're making great memories.
00:47You've got a nice sash on saying Armaa Rose, tell me about that.
00:51So on the 25th of May I took part in the selection night in Armaa City Hotel.
00:58I'm sure it was a fantastic experience.
01:00It was. It was amazing. We all got to know each other really well over the few months on the run-up to it
01:06and got to hear each other perform on the run-up to it, which was amazing.
01:11Just so many talented, strong, beautiful girls.
01:14What does the Armaa Rose mean to you?
01:18To me, on a smaller scale, it's just something that I've shared with my family since I was a wee girl growing up watching it.
01:28I know that they're really proud and that's a big deal to me.
01:32And then just on a larger scale, getting to basically be the ambassador for Armaa and the spokesperson for Armaa over the next two years.
01:42It's just incredible off the back of the senior men winning the All-Ireland in 2024.
01:49It's just been such a buzz in Armaa ever since.
01:52So it feels, you know, really important to be the person selected this time.
01:58And we haven't had representation down in Tralee since 2017.
02:03So there's been a long gap.
02:05So it's been a long time coming to have a woman come back and represent Armaa.
02:10So I think I will showcase that, you know, well, for starters, they have made the Rose of Tralee a lot more inclusive in recent years.
02:20So it wasn't always open to young mothers.
02:24And now it is.
02:25It's actually open to the LGBT community.
02:28And they've recognised that, you know, the need for change.
02:33And that's a big reason of why I've entered it too.
02:36So I am, I really am doing it for all the mummies.
02:39That's a big thing for me.
02:40I want to make all the mummies proud and show that we're capable of doing great things
02:45and doing so many things at once, being so many Rose.
02:49So my wee boy just turned one on Friday.
02:52So it's definitely been a busy, busy year for me.
02:55Well, my sponsor for the actual selection night was Dermot Small from Mortgage Solutions in Largan.
03:05So he's been a family friend for years and gave him a mention on stage at the selection night.
03:12So he actually paid the fee for me to be a part of the Rose selection.
03:19And then my parents have been such a help.
03:22You know, me and mummy have been, we've had a good excuse to go shopping together.
03:27So it's lovely to spend that time together.
03:29And my daddy has kind of been in charge of the whole music side of things,
03:33keeping me right on what to sing and that kind of a thing.
03:37So, and then school, you know, the kids have been very supportive.
03:41The staff have been very supportive.
03:43You know, there's a lot of strong women that work here and they've given me a lot of good advice
03:51and talked about things that are important to them,
03:54which are possibly things that I could bring to my role and, you know,
03:59highlight a lot of important things going on in education at the minute too.
04:02Education is very important to you?
04:05Yeah, definitely.
04:06It's where I want to spend my whole life.
04:11And working with young people and, you know, building those relationships
04:15and getting to see the impact that you're having on their lives.
04:18It's definitely not to be taken lightly.
04:21The Rose Trillet is a beauty competition.
04:24It isn't, obviously.
04:25Can you tell me what it does represent?
04:27Yeah, I've had a lot of people kind of saying, you know,
04:32there is the beauty queen or she won the beauty pageant.
04:35And as much as I know they're coming from a good place,
04:37it's, I really do feel the need to correct people because it's,
04:42that is just playing it down so much to say that it's a beauty pageant when it's not.
04:46You know, it's about being a strong Irish woman.
04:51And to me that's intelligence and passion and talent and so many things that I could talk about.
04:59But it's important to me that people know that it's not superficial.
05:04It's not about how you look, it's about the person that you are and how you can represent your county
05:10and be a voice for, for everyone.
05:13Well, there are a lot of strong Irish female role models throughout the years.
05:18What do you think you bring to that?
05:21I think I can articulate myself well and I think, you know, I have got a strong singing voice
05:30and I love to perform with my family and different local musical theatre groups that I'm a part of.
05:38And that is something different that maybe not everybody would have.
05:42She's very nice and independent. She really deserves to win this.
05:47and she has a good chance at the minute. She'll always help you and she's really loving and caring.
05:53That's really nice. Has she helped you?
05:55Yep. Loves and maths and just doing all the work.
05:58That's brilliant. And do you think she's going to win the Rose of Tree?
06:03I really hope she does and I know she has a good chance.
06:06She's really nice. She has a really good personality and she's always just kind.
06:13She helps people, so she does. Does she help you?
06:17Yeah, she helps me when I made it, yeah. She's good. She's really good for the RMR, so she does.
06:27She's very much an RMR woman, is she? Yeah, she is. She's indeed.
06:32It's just like a really big achievement and we're all very grateful to have her as our teacher.
06:39And she just came in and just like, made us all like, feel good about ourselves.
06:44So it's just really good to let her, make her like, be happy.
06:49But all the time it just makes us like, be ourselves.
06:54I think like, she's definitely one of the best teachers I've ever had.
06:59And she's definitely like, made a difference in my life.
07:03And I just can't wait to see what she'll do in the future.
07:07And her personality is like, amazing. I wish I was her.
07:12Aww. That's lovely. And what are your hopes for the future regarding the Rose of Tree?
07:19I hope she comes through. She definitely deserves this big award she's won.
07:28And I just can't wait to see what she does in the future.
