Daily Times

A mother has said she was “shocked and disheartened” after being told she could not enter the Miss Northern Ireland beauty pageant because she has given birth.

Dearbhail Brogan, of County Down, said her friend entered her into the competition after they saw an advert for it in a Sunday newspaper.

But when the 21-year-old was contacted by organisers ACA Models to invite her to a heat, she said she was asked if she had any children.

Brogan, a blogger, told the organisers that she has a seven-month-old daughter called Cuisle.

Speaking to Stephen Nolan on BBC Radio Ulster, she said, “They said, ‘I’m sorry it’s in our rules that nobody with children can enter the competition.’ I just think it’s wrong. I don’t think it’s up to them to decide what the mum can or cannot do or what they should be entitled to. Having a child should give you more of a drive to succeed because it’s going to benefit your family. A lot of mums have proved they can do that and there shouldn’t be any discrimination from them doing that.”

The competition is governed by the Miss World competition, which is the world’s longest-running beauty pageant.

It was established by the late Eric Morley in the UK in 1951.

Within the rules on the ACA Models website, one states, “Each contestant shall be a person who has never given birth to a child.”

A spokeswoman for ACA Models said as Miss World governed the competition, they set the rules.

She added, “At the International meeting of the License Holders three years ago this question was put to the License Holders and it was unanimously agreed that for a woman who held the title to be working away from her child/children would not be in the interest of a mother or a child to be taken away for one year. This was a unanimous decision made by all nations competing. However ACA Models would be delighted to welcome Dearbhail or any other young mother on the books of the model agency. We currently work with many young mothers and fathers throughout Northern Ireland. Having children is not an obstacle.”