Emma all set to represent Tyrone in Face of Ireland final

Emma McKeown, who was crowned the Face of Tyrone in April, is vying for the all-Ireland crown and the title of Face of Ireland in the competition final set to take place on October 13th.

Emma beat off over 32,000 girls from all over Ireland to become one of the 30 girls handpicked to go through to the final stages of the Face of Ireland in association with Europcar contest.

The competition searches the 32 counties of Ireland looking for suitable female candidates over the age of 18 who believe they have got what it takes to be the Next Face of Ireland whilst helping various charities.

22 year-old Emma, who studies business and marketing at the University of Ulster Coleraine, has just completed a 14 month placement with Keystone in Cookstown.

Emma said: ”I applied to The Face of Ireland as I felt this was an excellect opportunity to represent not only my home county of Tyrone but also to represent the country of Ireland as an ambassador.

“With the current economic climate, it is vitally important to give additional support to our businesses and charities to help Ireland survive this economic downfall. The Face of Ireland has helped each of the charities below making considerable impacts of those in need in Ireland.

“I feel it is critical to continue helping these charites, to be an ambassador and help put these words into action would be a great privilege,” she said.

Emma is being sponsored by Bar Doe Coookstown, a family run business owned by her aunt and uncle.

She continued: “I would like to thank my well wisher Bar Doe who have been a great support throughout my journey of being crowned Face of Tyrone and during my preparation for the final of Face of Ireland. I would also like to thank my family, friends and local businesses for all the support in the pass number of months, including Lough Neagh Crystal who kindly put forward a beautiful piece of crystal for the raffle on the night of the Grand Final.”

“I am very excited for the final, and the experience up until now has just been amazing,”

“I’ve met so great girls during the Tyrone competition and I am looking forward to getting down to Dublin and meeting even more girls from around Ireland.”

Face of Ireland is proud to have a long association with charities such as STOP, Solace Cancer Support Unit, My Sister Zoe Appeal, Aware and now with the tragic increase of incidence in suicide our association with GRASP has never been more important. GRASP stands for Greater Responsibility and Awareness in Suicide Prevention.

Emma will also be joined by three other ‘wildcard’ entries at the Red Cow Moran Hotel on the night.

They are; Aisling Lanigan, Caoimhe Quinn and Lisa Quinn.

Lisa, who is from Cookstown, said: “My Face of Tyrone journey was an amazing experience. I met some wonderful people, everyone was very encouraging including the other girls.

“I was excited about the fact Face of Tyrone, Ireland were looking for an ambassador and not just a pretty face. In today’s society models have a responsibility to young women not to give a distorted view of beauty. To get through and to possibly have the chance be an ambassador for Ireland is amazing. Also to get through to the final with three other girls that I would class as friends is overwhelming.

Lisa also thanked her sponsors for their help so far, including; Doll Face-House of Make Up, Cookstown, The Snooty Fox, Dungannon, Solo Shoes, Dungannon