THE WATERFORD ROSE, Kirsten Mate Maher, has been crowned the Rose of Tralee 2018.

After two long nights in The Dome in Kerry, student Kristen was ultimately named the worthy winner.

Kristen’s win makes her the first African-Irish Rose of Tralee, and the third ever winner from Waterford.

Kirsten and her parents RTE RTE

Kristen impressed audiences with her frank interview about issues of race and her disappointment that so much focus was on the colour of her skin.

There are a thousand other things about me that could have been written about. We’re all the same.

She also performed Feeling Good on stage at The Dome.

In her Rose profile, she states that she loves singing and sings with the Island of Ireland Peace Choir, which formed in the wake of the Omagh bombing in Tyrone in 1998.

She also stated that she wants to attend Waterford Institute of Technology in September  to study Multimedia and Application Development, in the hopes of becoming a computer programmer.

She might have to put that one on hold.

Kirsten triumphed over 31 other Roses and succeeds 2017′s Offaly Rose Jennifer Byrne in the title.

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