Renmore biochemist crowned the first black Miss Ireland

University Hospital Galway biochemist and model Pamela Ubu is only the third local winner to be crowned Miss Ireland, with records having to go all the way back to 1999 when Emir Holohan was selected, according to organisers.

Pamela, 25, arrived with her mother and four siblings from Johannesburg in South Africa when she was aged seven and they lived for over a decade in the Direct Provision system while their application for asylum was processed. For much of that time they were in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo. She was granted residency while a college student in Galway and has since taken out citizenship.

The Renmore resident became a media darling in 2019 when she won Best Dressed Lady at the Galway Races, sparking her entry into modelling and her decision to enter the Miss Galway contest.

But it was something she had long had on her mind after being mistaken for a Miss Galway contestant during a heat while working in the city’s Coyotes Nightclub.

But her time in the spotlight has not been all plain sailing. She has been viciously trolled on social media by racists who tell her she should go home.

“It happened again after I won on Sunday. Hurt people hurt people, they want to tear you down. I see the comments, but I just ignore them. I don’t give them any of my time. It’s quite disgusting to read – where do they want me to go – go home to my house in Galway?”

(Photo: Pamela pictured with her mother Anne and sister Michelle after she was crowned Miss Ireland 2021).

This is a shortened preview version of this article. To read the rest of Pamela's story, see this week's Galway City Tribune. You can buy a digital edition HERE.