This article appeared in The Southern Star in July 2002 and is the Dubai 'Rose' of that year's Bantry roots.
ZENA Al Nazer has been holidaying in Bantry since she was a child, together with her sister, Dana, and parents, Dr Nafez and Elizabeth al Nazer.
BY ANN CREEDON
This year she’s back in Bantry but with the title of “Dubai Rose,” having been selected from eight other contestants at the recent Dubai “Rose Ball,” held at the Renaissance Hotel and organised by the Dubai Irish Society.
Eighteen-year-old Zena’s mother is originally from Gearhies.
As a nurse, Elizabeth Griffin emigrated to Abu Dhabi in 1978 and met and married Jordanian Dr Nafez Al-Nazer.
Zena has inherited her mother’s easygoing charm and her father’s exotic demeanour.
COMPOSURE
Her composure and quiet confidence certainly belie her tender years.
This could be partly due to her involvement in drama, which ranks high in her lengthy list of interests.
Zena has just completed her ‘A’ Levels and hopes to secure a place for Law at Trinity, but her great ambition — and she readily admits it — is to be famous.
At school, she was responsible for setting up a drama department and was solely in charge of directing the musical “Annie.”
She has taken part in everything from pantos to Agatha Christie to Gilbert and Sullivan.
No doubt, her stage experience will stand her in good stead when she comes face to face with Marty Whelan in the dome in Tralee on the big night.
An avid traveller, besides spending time between her Irish and Jordanian relatives, Zena has also taken in the U.S., France, Holland, the U.K., Cyprus and Palestine.
Horse riding is another passion, she told us, and, of course, she sings, plays piano and the guitar.
In fact, Zena has been doing her party piece at The Westlodge ever since she was a few years old at the summer “ballad sessions.”
Together with her younger sister, 17-years-old Dana, this would-be “Rose of Tralee” began attending Irish dancing classes, then being given by Kanturk-born Lilian Casey, who is married to Jim Casey of Kealkil, when she was four years old.
HIGHLIGHT
The sisters, over the years, have danced at the highlight of the Irish Society’s calendar of events in the United Arab Emirates — the St. Patrick’s night ball.
Did she always want to be the “Dubai Rose?” An emphatic “yes” bubbles forth. She explains in great detail (I’m a perfectionist,” she adds).
“Firstly, you enter the contest yourself — you do not need a sponsor or a nomination. There followed a week of interviews, both informal and formal.”
The age limit was 18 to 26 years, making Zena one of the youngest “Roses.”
In Dubai, she was judged on charisma, dress sense, personality, compatibility and talent.
We can imagine this charming young woman attaining full marks in all criteria.
An endorsement of Zena’s popularity must be the fact that, for the first time, the entire committee from Dubai, headed by chairman Paul McCabe, is travelling to Tralee, to cheer on their gorgeous protege.
There too, in strength, will be her Bantry cousins, including Peter and Maureen Farrelly and family of Gurteen, well-wishers and friends. Zena will travel to Dublin on August 20 when she will meet all the other contestants.
Then it’s “Rose” time in Tralee from August 23 to 27 when all eyes from Bantry to Bahrain will be firmly on Zena Al Nazer, the “Dubai Rose,” 2002.
Did you know it's possible to read past editions of the Southern Star dating all the way back to 1882? Enjoy 135 years of local and national history at your fingertips with a subscription to the Irish News Archives.
