A Rose of Tralee contestant has won the support of the public after speaking movingly and openly about her of parents’ heroin addiction.
Carlow Rose, Shauna Ray Lacey spoke during the competition about how the drug had damaged her late father.
A Rose from each county is given the opportunity to display a talent and also to speak about issues that are important to them.
Lacey said that she does a lot of charity work with addicts as it means so much to her to help people turn their lives around.
She explained: “Growing up I wasn’t given the best hand of cards. My parents did suffer with addiction, I was very much living with active addiction in my life.
“It was heroin. In the society we live in nowadays, every second home in Ireland, there’s one person suffering from addiction.”
She spoke about the good work charities do, but also the problems people encounter when they try to combat their addiction. Many can find it difficult to adjust to a new life after returning from a treatment centre and fall back into their old routines.
She added that not everybody falls into the stereotype of addiction and her parents were high functioning addicts.
Tragically, Lacey’s father passed away five years ago, but her mother turned her life around four years ago.
Lacey told her she was expecting her first child and her mother went away to get help in getting clean and has not touched drugs for four years.
Lacey said she was going to sing the song Crazy World, which meant a lot to her as it was something she used to sing with her father when she was young.
Take a look at the videos below.
Carlow Rose Shauna Ray Lacey sings a song her late father used to sing to her, Crazy World.#RoseofTralee live now#CarlowRising pic.twitter.com/zpP4cyek2O
— RTE One (@RTEOne) 20 August 2018
