23/10/2013

Miss Ulster Competition No Longer To Be Held At Stormont

Two assembly members have withdrawn their support for the upcoming Miss Ulster competition, which had been due to take place at Stormont on Saturday.

The MLA's had initially supported the staging of the beauty pageant but subsequently withdrew their support in a disagreement over rules about competitors age and size.

The rules state that entrants must be aged between 18 and 24, be at least 5ft 7ins tall and must be between a size eight and a size 12.

Ulster Unionist MLA Jo-Anne Dobson withdrew her support of the event after finding out "there were exclusions".

Speaking to the Nolan show, Dodson said: "I would not want to be associated with anything that excluded people. Stormont is all about inclusivity and I want everyone to have that opportunity".

"I was a judge, not a contestant, so I wasn't aware of the rules. Obviously the rules need to be changed because everyone should have the opportunity."

Conceding that she had in fact been a judge at the inaugural Miss Ulster competition two years ago she added: "We get asked to attend many events, and you don't scrutinise every single rule attached to every event - I didn't scrutinise the rules at a young farmers event two weeks ago."

It is understood that the event will now be held at another venue. The organisers of the competition defended the rules saying that they were in line with those for the overall Miss Universe competition.

(MH/CD)


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