September Star Of The Month

- Miss United Nations Ireland 2010 - Samantha Long.

It's hard to believe that someone so beautiful, poised and elegant, wearing louboutin stilettos could be down to earth, but that's exactly what our Miss United Nations Ireland, Samantha Long is. The shy girl from Adare, Limerick who grew up on a farm has transformed into a pageant queen, an ambassador and a role model.

The daughter of retired English and History teacher Susan Long and Vet Derek Long, won her title of Miss United Nations Ireland this July competing against gorgeous girls all over Ireland, but this Pageant is different from all the rest, not only do you need to have the looks, but it's more focused on the person's personality and their contributions to their community.

And to top that all off, it's clear that Samantha's got the smarts,before the pageant she was studying Law in UCC and it's clear that winning her crown hasn't blurred her vision, one of the first things she says has changed since winning her title is that a lot of people are trying to be her 'friend' she says : "A lot of people who wouldn't have been friends with me before are suddenly 'my friends'. I've been told to be wary of people."

She definitely has her feet firmly on the ground since her life has changed. From a law student in UCC, overnight she has become a representative of Ireland, a role model and a 'personality'. Samantha admits she was never all that confident until she entered the UCC's Next Top Model competition. She admits to being a huge America's Next Top Model fan but her height, at 5 ft 6 inches, has always stood in her way. But soon she realized her height was something she could overcome, Diva Next Door entered Samantha into a poll and various competitions contacted her saying she had a bright future.

(Samantha winning her title as Miss United Nations Ireland)

Then, thanks to Facebook she stumbled upon Miss United Nations and she had built the confidence to enter. Previously, a seriously shy girl, Sam started to come out of her skin. From strutting her bikini on the catwalk to talking about herself on stage, the judges could see she had come out of her shell.

It's evident that this young woman is highly ambitious, I can see behind those calm blue eyes there are thousands of ideas running around her mind. She says there is so much she wants to achieve during her reign: "I'm the first Miss United Nations Ireland so I have to set the standard. I want to take every opportunity that comes my way. I really want to work with charities." Samantha is getting very much involved with the Irish charity Aware who are dedicated in helping defeat depression in Ireland. She also helps out with Limerick Animal Welfare, as she tells me multiple times she is in love with animals, and has been a vegetarian since the age of nine!

And although Samantha did win a beauty pageant she wants to focus more on how she can become a role model for young people and how best, she can represent Ireland: "I do want to develop myself as a model, but I'm more of an ambassador now."


Most importantly, Samantha wants her year as Miss United Nations Ireland to count. Next November she will fly to Jamaica for the final competition for Miss United Nations International and everything she will do in the following months will prove her dedication to helping others, her involvement in local communities and the image she portrays for young Irish women as well as women worldwide: "I want to be able to go to Jamaica and stand up in front of the judges and tell them what I've done as Miss United Nations and be proud of what I've done. And know I did my best. And I want to tell my successor what to expect. So I want to give this my all."

(Photo by: Kevin Wallace)



The day I'm meeting with Samantha is also the same day she finds out she has gotten a deferral from her final year of her Law degree in UCC, the excitement is buzzing from her and she tells me she's moving to Dublin and getting a new apartment so she can be at the centre of it all. As her title requires her to attend numerous events, it's important she's in the centre of Ireland where most of her duties would be held. She says to me "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, that's why I'm moving to Dublin. I want to give this one hundred percent"

It's clear that Samantha wants to use her role to help others, she says to me that it's really important to her to "use my voice for those who don't have a voice". She admits that if she won the the title of Miss United Nations International she would go to a third world country and build houses, saying it's something she's always wanted to do.

(Samantha wears a gorgeous LBD from Adare Boutique Isobel and her Crown is handmade by Carol Shaw)

Another aspect that Samantha's really interested in is the Media world. She's been thrown into it head first since her crowning in July, and now she will be writing a fashion column for a new Limerick magazine called 'Teen Life' which is dedicated to the 8-18-year olds of Limerick and will be provided in all schools throughout the county.

Samantha says she aims to help teens "who feel uniform dampens their style" and will give them tips to "pimp their uniforms" to make them feel more confident and stylish. But she's also adamant that being natural is really important. Samantha herself is completely natural, with strawberry blond hair, pale skin and a slim physique, her look is effortless, and she hopes that other young women can learn from her to focus on looking natural, and bare, rather than throwing on orange tan and elongated extensions, she says: "I think the worst thing is if you're used to wearing fake tan and then you have to go out without it you definitely feel bare. I like to go for a natural look, but a glamorous natural look, today I've had my makeup done by Claire Kelly (which is both flawless and natural), but at the end of the day, if you're relying heavily on fake tan and makeup it takes away other things about yourself".

(Samantha doing her swimwear segment at the Miss United Nations Ireland Pageant, Photo by: Kevin Wallace)

It's evident that this young woman is very focused on portraying herself in the correct light so that young people can follow in her footsteps. One of her reasons for entering the pageant in the beginning was to represent all the shorter girls out there that dream of being a model, but are restricted by model agencies who won't hire them because of their height. But Samantha believes beauty and confidence have nothing to do with size or shape: "As long as you're healthy it doesn't matter what size you are and I want to focus on fashion that suits everybody."

In regards to her own style Samantha says: "I don't really have a style. Today I'm wearing this black fitted dress from the Adare boutique Isobel. I like getting 'dolled up' and feeling like a girlie girl but trust me, I have my days where I wear my sweats and I have my hair in a mess" .But like every other girl there are some beauty products Samantha can't live without: "Mascara, lip gloss and pretty nails" very sophisticated choices!

But she admits that as Miss United Nations Ireland she feels its important to dress sophisticated and look her best when attending public events, as she is an ambassador, not only for the pageant, and for Limerick, but for Ireland itself.

(photo by: Una Williams)

Since winning her title, Samantha has been a seriously busy bee, nearly straight after the pageant Samantha attended a fashion show for the Isobel Boutique in Adare at the time of the J.P McManus' Pro-Am, and the show was for the golfers wives (rubbing shoulders with the best already) and told me in giggles "that was my first taste of stardom" then the week after receiving her crown she was at the launch of the Limerick Beauty Salon Halo's new threading service.

One of the most exciting things Samantha has done since winning her crown has been appearing in a commercial for Jewellery Ireland. It was filmed in Markree Castle in Sligo and had top designers involved, such as Helen Fitzpatrick who styles for The Tudors, Carol Shaw who won jewellery designer of the year, designers from Riverdance and stylists from the set of James Bond movie, Casino Royale. Carol Shaw was on set of the commercial which was also a photo shoot and Samantha was lavished in her beautiful hand made jewellery.The quirky themed video had Samantha running around in the rain in a Vera Wang wedding dress (oh the horror) and gave her her first taste of acting. The commercial will be aired in cinema's in Ireland and the UK coming up to December.

Most recently she attended the Makeup Fablicious Seminar in the RDS where she got her hair and makeup done on stage in front of the public, and had to do a professional photo shoot to portray a behind the scenes look at the making of a photo shoot. She also attended Limericks Got Music concert in the Strand Hotel in Limerick which was in aid of the children's arc unit in the Limerick Regional Hospital. There she acted as judge and introduced Radio DJ Nikki Hayes. Samantha says that there is so much talent out there: "The talent was amazing, they were all un-real, I was gob-smacked". The performers on the night made an album of songs showing the local talent. So as you can see she's involved in everything she can be, definitely fulfilling her title's role gracefully and honourably.

(At the Makeup Fablicious Seminar in the RDS)

One of the most exciting projects Samantha's involved in is a new Irish Modeling competition, she says she's been told she can't give too much information but she's been helping other stars recruit top models for a new show and it's called The Real Models Ireland Contest, similar to the Miss United Nations Pageant, size and height isn't at the forefront of the competition and Samantha hopes it will give confidence to the shorter models out there.

Samantha says that the support she received has been unimaginable. Her family have been with her all the way and local businesses have sponsored her since the beginning: "Kay Mulcair, the owner of the boutique Isobel in Adare gave my four outfits to wear at my first promotional photo shoot which was provided to by my sponsor Kevin Wallace, she also provided me with the dress I wore on the night of the pageant, and she gave me a dress to wear at the Makeup Fablicious seminar."

(Samantha at the Maggie Red Blog interview)



I've never seen somebody so proud of their title. Samantha takes her role so seriously and wants to make a difference in the lives of young women and represent her country with pride and sophistication. Next November she will go on to compete against 75 other girls from different countries for the title of Miss United Nations International. The final contest will be a week long and entails a judged sportswear section, evening wear and interview segment. There will also be non-judged events taking place where she'll take part in the National Costume Parade she will have to showcase a talent and says she's no idea what she will do: "I've been looking at Irish songs, but I haven't found one I've liked enough yet. I want it to be different from all the others."

Samantha will be primarily focusing on her charity work alongside her fashion column in the new Limerick magazine Teen Life. She'll be attending World Animal Week for Limerick Animal Welfare in the first week of October.

When I ask Samantha ,as Miss United Nations Ireland, what she wants to be remembered for she says: " I want to have covered a wide range of things, I want to have set a very high standard for the next contestants to follow because I am the first with this title." Being a role model seems to be the most important part of all of this for Samantha, she wants to help young people, represent charities in need and help those out there who don't have a voice.


Finally, I ask Samantha what advice she has for young rising stars out there who want to become a model, a pageant winner, actress or famous personality: "I think the most important thing is to learn from your experiences, If I hadn't applied for the pageant I wouldn't be here today so I think it's important to keep on trying even if you keep getting knocked down. You need to find your niche, I wasn't suitable for some of the other competitions and then I found one that was perfect for me."

So there you have it ladies and gentleman, your Miss United Nations Ireland 2010, Samantha Long, and what a winner she is. The next round of girls have very big shoes to fill (cute one's at that).

You can check Samantha out on Facebook HERE