Seven away from Gay. One of the numbers on Dáithí Ó Sé's mind as he chatted to Ray D'Arcy on Wednesday, along with thirty-two, the number of contestants competing for the title of this year's Rose of Tralee. It's Dáithí's tenth year presenting, as he told former Rose of Tralee host Ray today. He's long passed out D'Arcy's five years hosting the event, but Dáithí needs to rack up seven more if he's to match the tally of veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne. Just so no-one thinks he's lost the run of himself, Dáithí also told Ray he'd be happy to be asked back for at least one more year!
Let's not forget that the real competition is about the Roses. Dáithí told Ray how much he admired them for their courage at standing up in front of a worldwide audience of hundreds of thousands to share some of the very personal challenges that have faced them on their road to The Dome. The Kerryman stoutly defended the competition against criticism that it's had its day:
"When is a celebration of Irish women out of date? Never."
Dáithí is fighting fit and raring to go ahead of Monday night. He's been on a strict regime for the past few months, watching his food and alcohol intake so he can look and feel his best presenting the show. He did make one tiny exception though:
"I don't drink for seven weeks – except when Kerry beat Tyrone in an All-Ireland semi-final, I made a small kind of detour there."
There's plenty more about Dáithí's Rose of Tralee rituals for getting ready on the night; how his wife, Rita (a former New Jersey Rose) helps him shop for presenting gear – even if he ignores her advice – as well the political career that never was. You can hear the full interview here.
And you can see the festival live on RTÉ One television Monday 26th and Tuesday the 27th at 8pm. To get you in the mood for this year's event, you can check out some classic moments from previous competitions on The Rose of Tralee Classics on the RTÉ Player here.