Maria Walsh - October 25th 2023

This weeks guest on Stand Out with Ian O’Connell is Maria Walsh, Maria was born in Boston, USA, but the village of Shrule, Co. Mayo has been home for her since 1994. She is an Irish politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament for the Midlands–North-West constituency since July 2019. Maria graduated with a B.A. in Journalism and Visual Media in 2009. Outside of politics, she’s known for winning the 2014 Rose of Tralee and she has pretty much been in the public eye ever since. She came out publicly for the first time just days after winning the contest, making her the first ever openly gay Rose of Tralee. We talk about Maria’s childhood spending time in both Ireland and the USA, coming out publicly, life in politics and as an MEP, mental health and much more.