Cavan beauties aim to become Face of Ireland

Cavan will have two young ladies competing for the title of the Face of Ireland competition in Moran's Red Cow Hotel, Dublin tonight. Not too many pageant contestants have a baby between the semi finals and the finals but that's exactly what 20-year-old Stephanie O'Reilly has done. On meeting the slender 5'7 Cavan Town lass it's hard to believe that she's given birth to her son Shay just eight weeks ago. With the final of The Face of Ireland approaching on Saturday, October 13, surely she must have embarked on a gruelling combination of dieting and fitness programmes to get into shape for the contest? "I'm naturally skinny," Stephanie cheerfully explains, probably to the annoynace of every woman reading this. "I get it from my mummy. "I've never actually been in a gym, not once. I'm vegetarian, but I eat loads - loads. No one will actually believe me only my family because they see it." Yip a natural beauty - so natural in fact - she's only had her first spray tan recently - "horrible experience", however she modestly describes herself as "deathly pale". Stephanie's route to being among the last 25 girls, from the 32,000 who applied, started when her younger sister Ciara secretly entered her into the competition last winter. So it came as some surprise when she was called to an interview in the Red Cow Moran Hotel in Dublin last October, and made it through to the semi finals last February. "I was three months pregnant doing the semi final," Stephanie recalls. "I had a feeling but I didn't tell anyone until I was five months pregnant." There are three other mothers in the final, and Stephanie says that having Shay with her partner Wayne Smith, has changed her. "You know what's important in life when you have a baby. It makes you more focussed." The competition has also changed Stephanie. Rounds of photo-shoots, fashion shows and on-stage interviews, have taken introverted Stephanie out of her comfort zone and helped her grow in confidence. "I was painfully shy when I was younger. I couldn't even go into shops, it was terrible. "At 18 I had to open a bank account and my Mum says 'You have to do it yourself'. It was actually scaring me to that I had to go and talk to someone. I've come a long way since then," says Stephanie who is sponsored by McBreen Environmental. Stephanie has never harboured ambitions of becoming a model before but it seems the competition may have swayed her: "I didn't think I would be so comfortable in front of a camera, but it's great fun." In the mean time, what's her chances of becoming the Face of Ireland? "I didn't think I would get through the last time so who knows." Meanwhile Drung's Annita Brady says she would relish the opportunity to represent Ireland on the local, national and international stage. Annita, from the townland of Drumherriss, graduated recently as a secondary school teacher of history and geography. She is currently working with Revise.ie - located over Costcutters at Latt. Annita does the supervised study in the evenings and also works in Heatons at the weekend and is currently applying for teaching positions. After spending the summer interning at the Department of Education in Washington DC, Annita says she was overwhelmed by the warm welcome she received everywhere she went, when they heard the Irish lilt. "You get an overwhelming sense of pride in being Irish there. "I would love to become the face of Ireland ambassador at home and abroad and help showcase our Irish treasures," said Annita. She explained that the competition appealed to her because it does phenomenal work with a cause close to her heart, suicide prevention. This year's winner will work with the charity GRASP (Greater Responsibility and Awareness in Suicide Prevention). The winner will have an opportunity to attend the St Patrick's Day Parade in New York with of the Face of Ireland team and officially launch the parade. The winner will also receive 12 luxurious dresses for all those special events. They will also receive €1,000 worth of jewellery and a professional portfolio photo shoot. They will also win a beautiful piece of Mullingar Crystal, which represents the heritage of the country.