WHILE MOST people who attended the National Ploughing Championships at Heathpark last week were dressed for the occasion one or two stood out from the crowd in terms of style.

One of those was Wexford woman, Patrice Byrne from Chapel, Clonroche.

Such was the elegant manner of her attire that she was duly awarded the runner-up slot in the Most Appropriately Dressed Lady competition which was organised in conjunction with Thomas Cook Travel.

In the wake of her success Ms. Byrne spoke to The Echo and expressed complete surprise at being picked out from the crowd.

“I work with Bank or Ireland and I was at the bank’s arena yesterday and I was freezing,” she said.

“So today I pulled out all the things I was going to wear to be prepared for any weather,” she added.

When asked if she had deliberately dressed with the competition in mind she declared an emphatic “no”.

“I didn’t – it was a complete surprise to me,” she said, with obvious sincerity.

Adding even more significance to her success Ms. Byrne also revealed that all her clothes were bought in Enniscorthy and Wexford.

She received a voucher from McCauley’s Pharmacies as her prize.

“I wasn’t expecting it – that’s for sure,” she said.

“I bought my boots last year and I had them on all the summer,” she added.

“I certainly wasn’t expecting it – as I said I was freezing yesterday so I made sure to have plenty of layers on today.”

The Most Appropriately Dressed Lady competition was organised by local women Bridget Roche, Martina Delaney, Mai Cadogan and Theresa Delaney. They were also involved in organising the very successful fashion show at the event.