Niamh Marie Redmond is an Irish former model who found fame by winning

Miss Ireland Miss World Ireland is a national Beauty pageant in Ireland. Winners of the competition represent Ireland at Miss World. Among the winners are Rosanna Davison, who went on to win Miss World 2003, and Pamela Uba, who in 2021 became the first ...

in 1996. Born to parents Ronald and Orla, Redmond grew up the only female child with three brothers in

Drimnagh Drimnagh () is a suburb in Dublin, Ireland to the south of the city between Walkinstown, Crumlin and Inchicore, bordered by the Grand Canal to the north and east. Drimnagh is in postal district Dublin 12. History Early to mediaeval Drimna ...

. At the age of nineteen she represented

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

at Miss Ireland and was crowned the winner. Although her win qualified her to represent the country at

Miss Universe 1997 Miss Universe 1997, the 46th Miss Universe pageant, was held on May 16, 1997, at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. Brook Lee of the United States was crowned by Alicia Machado of Venezuela at the end of ...

, Redmond – who had deferred a place at

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland. ...

to prepare for the pageant – was controversially replaced by Miss Ireland second runner-up Fiona Mullaly. When queried, pageant boss Kieran Murray stated that Mullaly was best suited to represent Ireland, and his decision to remove Redmond was a bid to raise the standard and profile of Miss Ireland. Redmond had previously been a contestant at

Miss World 1996 Miss World 1996, the 46th edition of the Miss World pageant, took place on 23 November 1996 in the city of Bangalore, India. Preliminaries were shot in India and in Seychelles. 88 contestants from all over the world took part in the prestigi ...

where she was a favourite, but did not place, and former Miss Ireland boss Krish Naidoo, who defended Murray, claimed that Redmond had failed to impress the judges because she had given up completely. As a model, Redmond was lined to promote a range of summer clothing for

Lee Jeans Lee is an American brand of denim jeans, first produced in 1889 in Salina, Kansas. The company is owned by Kontoor Brands, a spin-off of VF Corporation's Jeanswear Division. Since 2019 its headquarters has been in Greensboro, North Carolina, re ...

alongside ''

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several award ...

'' actor Peter Warnock, but came under fire when she appeared in a

contraceptive Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

s commercial shortly after being crowned. Redmond graduated with a degree in Finance, and worked in IT after her reign. She is married to former

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

player and businessman

Aidan McCullen Aidan McCullen (born 5 January 1977) is a businessman and retired Ireland national rugby union team player. He played as a back rower, principally at blindside flanker but also as an openside, no.8 and occasionally in the second row. He played ...

. She has two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Redmond, Niamh Miss World 1996 delegates Alumni of Maynooth University Living people Miss Ireland winners Year of birth missing (living people) Beauty pageant contestants from Ireland