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Originally held in Sides Dance
Club, Dublin, on April Fool's Day 1987, the Alternative Miss Ireland has
over the years repackaged itself with considerable brio and apart from
Pride Week Celebrations is undoubtedly the premier event of the queer
social circuit. The premise of the show is quite obvious; contestants
(open to men, women and animals, although only one dog has entered in
its history) are judged in the tradition of day-wear, swim-wear and
evening-wear. A group of celebrity judges awards points for poise,
personality and originality and after considerable nail-biting and some
superb "filler" entertainment the winner, Queen of Ireland, is
crowned.
Dragging performance
into the future this visual and aural spectacular is an hilarious,
exotic and at times donwright beautiful event, with a serious and caring
purpose at its heart. Almost one hundred volunteers representing a
variety of expertise and discipines come
together every St. Patricks Week to ensure a fabulous show and in
doing so raise considerable funds for much needed causes. Originally the
proceeds of the show went to the Rape Crisis Centre. In its recent
re-incarnation all funds have gone to Cairde, the practical support
group for people affected by HIV and AIDS. In the past four years over
30,000 has been raised for Cairde, specifically for programmes designed
to help children who are HIV or who have lost their parents to AIDS.
"This year we hope to raise in excess of 10,000 for Cairde
and another AIDS group, as yet undecided", Panti told GCN.
"It's a very silly and fabulous event" she said. "But
it's also important to raise this money especially when you consider how
difficult it is to get people to contribute to causes such as this.
I'm talking about paediatric HIV programmes and a non-nationals'
project, working with refugees in Ireland, who are affected by AIDS and
to tell you the truth there aren't that many people in Ireland who
recognise the importance of this work amd who are prepared to do
something big about it. We are the single, largest, private contributor
to Cairde and every penny counts.
It's
a testament to all our contestants, many of whom spend a lot of money
and time on their shows, and also to all our supporters and sponsors
that we can come back every year with a fabulous, exicting and worthy
piece of theatre".
Alternative
Miss Ireland 1999 - Poster
Over recent years the
Alternative Miss Ireland has been judged and endorsed by a wide-ranging
and rather glittering group of people, among them Marc Almond, Agnes
Bernelle (who once famously entered her dog in the contest), Rifat
Ozbek, Brenda Fricker, Van Morrison , Michelle Rocha, John Reynolds of
Red Box/PoD fame, Louis Walsh.
All eyes are on Sunday 11 March when a new Queen of Ireland will
be crowned. Entries have come from Belfast, United States, The
Philippines, China and even Co. Clare. Tickets are already on sale
priced 10 (standing) and 15 (seated). Prices do not include booking fees
or agent's handling. Tickets may be obtained from the Olympia Box Office
and from Ticketmaster nationwide. (Prices can vary between outlets)
Based on previous years early booking is advisable as the
organisers expect another sold-out show.
We
can't wait.
Tonie
Walsh – Feb 2001
Mail:-
alternativemissireland@ireland.com
pictures
courtesy of Gay Archives - Outhouse
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