Rose of Tralee co-hosts Dáithí Ó Sé and Kathryn Thomas have hailed the festival as a "brilliant, bonkers celebration of Irish women" as the event returns for its 65th year.
The presenters, along with the 32 International Roses taking part this year, gathered earlier in Airfield Estate in Dublin to officially launch the festival.
A tuxedo-clad Ó Sé, himself returning for his 13th year presenting the show, was in typically high spirits. This was in spite of a niggling issue with his knee, which he dislocated a few weeks ago.
"It's unbelievable," he said of reuniting with Thomas. "The band is back together. I had to get a crutch a few weeks ago just to take a bit of attention!"
Thomas quipped: "I'm still looking for this X-ray. I still need proof of this X-ray. He's going around, he's getting me to bring him sandwiches..."
"It's working very well at the moment," Ó Sé quipped.
Thomas said she relished the opportunity to be back at the helm with Ó Sé.
"We were able to work so well together last year, and that was really important for me coming on board. Dáithí had done more than a decade of building incredible rapports, putting his own stamp on it, and bringing the entertainment to a whole new level.
"When I was coming on board, I said, 'I'm not here to change any of that', because it works so well. We know each other so well. There's no egos, we can take the mick out of each other. I'm prepared for anything that he throws at me and vice versa.
"It's just to have more fun as well. I think that's the whole theme of the Rose of Tralee - it's to enjoy it. By the time they get to Tralee, they've already had a week of craic and fun. It's to celebrate all of the Irishness, all of these modern women. They're amazing."
Ó Sé continued: "You have 32 Roses coming again this year with all different stories, all different backgrounds. I've found down through the years that you meet them on the first day, but then you get to meet them again when they go on TV and [you see] how much they've fallen into the role properly.
"You see them enjoy it as well. It's a very weird situation where you get 32 people who've never met each other before and you're hanging out together for 10 days. It's bizarre enough!"
Thomas added: "By the time they get to Tralee they have such camaraderie and, clichéd and all as it sounds, they have become very close. There's no competition between them.
"Everyone's in it for the fun and by the time they get down there, they actually understand what it's about. I mean, I did not understand fully what the Rose of Tralee was about until I actually got to Tralee."
"Yeah, you have to go down there to feel it," Ó Sé agreed.
Carlow-born presenter Thomas described the Rose of Tralee as "a fun, brilliant, bonkers celebration of Irish women", while Kerry native Ó Sé said the show is "a good picture of what Irish women are doing in 2024".
"If you go back to the 70s, I'd imagine the majority of the roles would have been teachers, nurses, or what would have been seen at that time as female-skewed jobs," he said of the Rose of Tralee hopefuls back then. "You come into 2024, you've engineers, you've doctors, you've occupational therapists. There is no difference between what men and women are doing."
The Today show presenter added that the festival "really shows what's happening".
"Coming back to the Roses themselves, coming up on stage to give their life story, serious things that have happened. We're dealing with mental health issues this year - it's not an easy thing to do," he said.
"I think that has been overlooked down through the years - there's a big 'fair play' for doing that. Even if you help one person at home watching that to go and get help, I think that's huge."
The co-hosts expertly batted away comparisons to a "lovely girls contest".
"[It's] probably the biggest compliment you'd ever get, getting a quote from Father Ted," Ó Sé joked.
Thomas said: "I was kind of always amused by that. What I did last year was ask the women on stage: 'It's 2024. This is what people say. Why are you entering the Rose of Tralee?'
"And when you hear answers like, 'I have two PHDs, I have a break from college, and I wanted to come to Ireland...'
"What was also really apparent this year as well, the girls in their mid-20s, their friends have emigrated, they've gone to Australia, they've gone to the States, and there's a lot of people who feel that their friendship circle have moved on.
"And this is a way to connect. It's a way to expand your social circle, it's a way to meet new people."
Ó Sé interjected: "I follow of lot of people who were on the Rose of Tralee 10 years ago. They're all going to each other's weddings now. They're all still best friends. They do make genuine bonds and friendships."
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment, Derry Rose Darcy Taylor said that the group has already "gotten so close".
"These girls are the only people who know what we're going through - that's a bonding experience," she said.
Taylor said she felt "very privileged" to be representing Derry this year. Aside from the local support, her family has also enthusiastically gotten behind her.
"They have the matching t-shirts, they have flags, they have everything ready to go. Dáithí Ó Sé is my granny's dream man! She loves him and she loved the Rose of Tralee growing up. She's 90 and it's lovely to give her this experience, to go 'Let's go down to Tralee. You're coming! You're going to enjoy it!'"
She added: "One thing that maybe sometimes is forgotten about with the Rose of Tralee is that there's 32 amazing women in here, with amazing achievements. They are all so different and it's amazing to have that representation of modern Irish women on this stage. There's not many places that that happens."
Donegal Rose Niamh Shevlin, an accomplished Irish dancer who toured with Lord of the Dance for five years, said it was "an extremely proud feeling" to be representing her county.
She was also effusive in her praise for her fellow Roses.
"Any time you ask somebody what they do, they're either a dancer, a musician, a pharmacist, a radiographer... we have so many different jobs here and people celebrating different things. Everybody has their own ambitions and goals."
It seems wise to give the last words to Ó Sé - ever the enthusiastic ambassador for the Rose of Tralee.
"It's a big session as well lads, honestly, it's a huge session down there!" he said. "How they keep going I don't know. It's a big party down in Tralee!"
The 2024 Rose of Tralee International Festival begins on Friday, 16 August, with the televised Rose Selection broadcast live on Monday 19 and Tuesday 20 August from 8pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
The Rose of Tralee will be available to watch by audiences in Ireland and around the world on RTÉ Player.
