Two of the 32 Roses who will take to the stage in Tralee across tonight and tomorrow night are past pupils of the same County Waterford secondary school.

Staff and students of St. Declan’s Community College, Kilmacthomas will be watching proceedings closely as they cheer on Cara Comerford and Rachel Keane.

Cara, from Portlaw, is the Waterford Rose and Rachel, from Dunhill, is the New Zealand Rose.

In a post on its Facebook page, the school said: “We are very proud to have two past pupils in this year’s competition. Cara Comerford will represent Waterford and Rachel Keane will represent New Zealand. The very best of luck ladies, we cannot wait to follow along the build up on social media and watch you both on stage! Such a fantastic achievement to represent your respective communities, two fantastic role models.”

You can listen to WLR’s interview with Cara here and with Rachel here