Today, those who came up roses are smiling, but in June it was a different story as 55 would-be Rose of Tralee escorts were put through their paces. Rosita Bolandwas there.

'What ye have to keep remembering is that the week is not about ye, lads; it belongs to the girls. And they're all winners!" This mantra was repeated roughly every five minutes to the men lined up in a corridor in the Newbridge Silverware offices, Co Kildare, in June, when 55 would-be escorts for the Rose of Tralee turned up for their interviews. Gareth Clegg, Grant Hourigan and Denis Griffin, the three men ticking names off lists, taking mugshots and keeping the motivational chanting going, were "escort liaison officers" and were all former escorts themselves.

Whether you're in the camp that thinks the Rose of Tralee is an outdated and unforgivably dull embarrassment, or the one that thinks that if it ain't broke, don't fix it (there are only two camps), what's inescapable is that it's going to happen again this year. And those 31 Roses need escorts to fetch and carry for them, which is why 55 men between the ages of 21 and 30 were vying for the roles.

The chances of becoming an escort are surprisingly high, once you decide you're going to fill out the application form. This year, there were 95 applications. Of those, 55 were shortlisted for interview for the 31 places (plus six reserves,called on every year, for various reasons), so they're pretty good odds.

An escort acts as arm-candy, errand-runner, dance partner, entertainer, supporter, and, according to one of the festival's 19 "conditions of service", he is expected to "act in a gentlemanly manner at all times when in Tralee". An escort is also presumably privy to various scenarios which the festival committee would prefer we did not see on YouTube, since an additional condition of being an escort is that "mobile phones with photographic capability are not allowed".

If a candidate is chosen as an escort, he has to come up with €2,000 in sponsorship money. What, you have to pay to be an escort? That's right, you have to get a business/businesses to fork out two grand to the festival on your behalf. Where does the money go?

"It goes on hotel costs, meals, things like that," explained Clegg , looking ever so slightly embarrassed. What happened to all those famous festival freebies?

Well, there's no such thing as a free festival, apparently, even if you're playing a starring public role. Five minutes later, Clegg emphasised that the escorts stay in student accommodation, empty for the summer. But with 31 escorts contributing €2,000 each, that's a cheeky little earner of €62,000 that the festival already has in its kitty.

Half the men lined up waiting for their interviews were wearing suits and ties, while the other half were in jeans or chinos. They all gave each other the once-over when they arrived, and you could see from their expressions that depending on what they were wearing, they were wondering if they were overdressed or under-dressed.

"Well, this is me, and a suit isn't me. I thought I'd come as myself," declared technician Michael Singleton (26), who is based in Lahinch, Co Clare. He's wearing chinos, a white T-shirt and a tank-top. After a while he confided: "If this was really me, I'd be wearing tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie."

Morgan Tierney (28), lives in Portumna, Co Galway, and works as a bank official. Why did he want to be an escort?

"I'd see being an escort as a challenge," he said. "It's one of those things you aspire to. I know people say the festival is outdated, but sometimes tradition is good. It seems to be a winning structure."

"I came across the application forms when I was wasting time on the internet before my exams," said Alan Kennedy (22), from Turner's Cross, Co Cork. He had recently finished his chemistry finals. "The Rose of Tralee is kind of strange if you think about it - a beauty pageant in a tent in Kerry. It's uniquely Irish. I don't think it happens anywhere else in the world."

Clifford Richardson (24), from Carrickallen in Co Leitrim, is a civil engineer. "I'm doing this for the experience," he said. "I heard it was a good week down there. You could call the festival a world-recognised pageant. We'll get all the girls to pamper us; it won't be us pampering them."

Richardson obviously hadn't been getting the message that the week was all about the girls.

Darragh Corrigan (25), from Greystones, Co Wicklow, who works part-time as a DJ playing parties and clubs in Dublin, applied when his mother gave him the forms "for the laugh". He wasn't sure who was more surprised when he got the letter calling him for interview.

"I've been a fan of the festival ever since I was a kid," he said frankly. "What I loved, watching it on telly, was what a happy buzz there was about the place. The girls always made me smile, and the age of chivalry is never dead."

One of the things the interview panel look for in an escort is life experience. Darren Cawley (29), from Westport, Co Sligo, has experience, courage and spirit in abundance. He works as a tour guide, taxi driver and lifeguard. He's also on dialysis three times a week, having had an unsuccessful kidney transplant, and at the time of the interviews was waiting to be called for another transplant.

"If I get chosen, I'd only have to be away for three hours at a time," he explained. "There is a holiday waiting list for dialysis in Tralee hospital, but hopefully they would be able to fit me in."

SO WHAT WERE the interviewers looking for in an escort? Colm Croffy, the escort co-ordinator, said: "We're looking for guys who are confident without being cocky, with good communication skills, a bit of life experience, and who can work as part of a team. An escort has to understand he is a total wardrobe prop for the week. If he thinks the week is about him, that he's a Billie Barrie kid or that's he on Pop Idol, then he's not getting on the bus. And we need a mix of backgrounds and a spread of people from different counties. It's important that we have a good dolly mixture of escorts."

Given that 10 per cent of Ireland's population is now composed of people born outside the State, did the festival receive any applications from foreign nationals?

"Oh yes," Croffy said. "We had some people apply from Britain. And a couple from Canada and even Australia."

What about from the Polish, eastern European and Chinese communities living in Ireland? "Oh, no. No, we haven't. I don't think news of the Rose of Tralee has filtered into those communities yet, but we'd love to get applications from those communities and look forward to the day when we do."

Johnny Cronin, a former escort who was also on the interview panel, suggested that the way he sized up people was the same as if he'd been setting up a blind date for his sister at a wedding.

"And if she wants to shag him at the end of the night, that's okay too," he added.

Yesterday, the names of the 31 escorts were announced. Darren Cawley did indeed make it through, as did bank official Morgan Tierney from Portumna, but none of the others I spoke to did. Sweeties they may be, but they didn't make the dolly mixture of escorts this time.

The Rose of Tralee runs from Aug 17 to 21; www.roseoftralee.ie

Conor Goodman's article on cycling holidays will appear on Tuesday