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The chair of the Rose of Tralee judging panel has said that remarks made by the Sydney Rose in favour of legalising abortion were inappropriate.
 
 Mary Kennedy said the festival was "not the place" for Brianna Parkins to broach the subject of abortion and that the contestant’s views did not reflect that of the festival.
 
According to the Independent Ms Kennedy also said: "This was a point that she (Brianna) wanted to make but I don't think it's the place to do it. I don't think the Rose of Tralee is necessarily a political platform."

The 2016 Rose said she would be neutral on abortion in her role

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The 2016 winner of the Rose Festival, Maggie McEldowney, said that she would also prefer to stay neutral on the subject.
 
Speaking after her win, Ms McEldowney, who is from Chicago, said: “No offence to the Sydney Rose, but at this point I’m just trying to focus on what’s ahead and all the wonderful things we’ll be doing this year. As a representative of the festival I’d like to take the neutral ground on it.”
 
Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute reacted to the comments made the Sydney Rose who described legalising abortion as being her ‘dream’.
 
“It's really rather bizarre to hear someone say that it's their 'dream' to have abortion legalised. Most people, even those who are sometimes supportive of abortion, see it as a sad and traumatic thing, as something that ends a baby's life. Looking on legalised abortion as a dream come true is a rather odd and extreme position," she said.
 
"Apparently, the contestants were asked their views on abortion before the live show, and RTÉ, the TV station hosting the show, are very supportive of abortion, so campaigners may have felt this was an opportunity, but that seems to have backfired, with one of the judges, and now the winner, saying that the contest was not a place for political statements," she added.
 
"Abortion campaigners are constantly trying to hijack events or pull stunts which get the attention of a supportive media, but, like several other stunts in recent days, this does not seem to have found favour with the public," she said. "It's always peculiar of course when self-described women's rights campaigners choose to ignore the baby girls killed by abortion and the harm caused to women by the abortion industry,” said the Life Institute spokeswoman.