OF course, as Father Ted memorably said, they all have lovely bottoms.
Forget
elections -- the closest-fought battle of the weekend was that for the
coveted title of Loveliest Girl on Craggy Island as the fifth Tedfest
proved to be the most successful to date.
Majella Donoghue, from
Belmullet, Co Mayo, was the lucky lady who stole victory after several
gruelling rounds of swiss-roll sculpting and lovely walking.
Rob
Morgan, son of the late Dermot Morgan, who played Fr Ted, was among the
judging panel who decided that the 24-year-old's Irish dancing made her
stand out from a bevy of 'cailini alainn' at the annual send-up of the
Rose of Tralee contest.
For the fifth year in a row, hundreds of
people dressed as nuns, priests, bishops and irrepressible Mrs Doyles
invaded Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands, for one of the
country's zaniest festivals.
Rob said that the weekend was a celebration of the success of the series and is something his dad would have really enjoyed.
"This
year we've had record numbers attending and the weekend has just been
fantastic. We're all just buzzing -- there's been so much to enjoy and
everybody has gotten involved in everything, from the wedding . . . of
the Loveliest Couple, the Kill Bill Festival, the ceili's and singalongs
to matchmaking with Nelly in the Craggy Crack Den."
Attendees,
who numbered more than 300, could enjoy three days of events from a
Live Hymns session, the Ronnie Drew hour or Elvis cage fighting.