Ulster’s Nadia Sayers is Miss Universe Ireland 2020, crowned virtually

 

Miss Universe Ulster 2020 Nadia Sayers, 26, has been crowned as Miss Universe Ireland 2020. She bested 11 other finalists.

A beauty pageant veteran, Sayers is Miss Earth-Water Northern Ireland 2017 and Miss Intercontinental Ireland 2017-2018. She competed at Miss Universe Ireland 2019 and finished in the Top 10.

Sayers attended Omagh Academy Grammar School in Omagh, Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2012. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Queen’s University Belfast in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 2015 and her master’s degree in psychology from Ulster University in 2019.

 

Hosted by Miss Indiana USA 2008 Brittany Mason and J. Scot Reid, the Miss Universe Ireland 2020 coronation ceremony was done virtually on December 21, 2020 due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Mason has been the Miss Universe Ireland national director since 2014.

The competition started with more than 200 applicants but only 12 women were chosen as national finalists. Nicholas Lynch, Lisa Nolan and Rosalind Lipsett served as the judges.

Miss Universe Derry 2020 Chloe Louise Davies, 24, and Miss Universe Leinster 2020 Laura Nolan, 26, finished in the Top 3. No runners-up were announced.

Miss Universe Midleton 2020 Aishat Onilogbo, 19, won the People’s Choice Award, which automatically gave her a spot in the Top 7. Miss Universe Galway 2020 Evelyn Harrington, 23, Miss Universe Down 2020 Katharine Walker, 26, and Miss Universe Cork 2020 Leila Ecker, 19, also finished in the Top 7.

Miss Universe Dublin 2020 Jordan Dwyer did not make it to the Top7 but she won the Miss Photogenic award. The Miss Congeniality award was given to Davies.

 

Sayers will be the 57th woman to represent Ireland at Miss Universe, which was formed in 1952. If she wins Miss Universe 2020, she will be the international beauty pageant’s first ever titleholder from Ireland.

Representing Ireland, Marlene McKeown and Roberta Brown were second runner-up at Miss Universe in 1963 and in 1983, respectively. They have the highest Miss Universe placement of a candidate from Ireland.

Also representing Ireland, Olivia Tracey, Andrea Roche and Rozanna Purcell finished in the Top 10 in 1985, in 1998 and in 2010, respectively, while Julie Farnham and Lorraine Enriquez finished in the Top 12 in 1975 and in 1978, respectively. Patricia Armstrong finished in the Top 15 in 1967, Cailin Toibin finished in the Top 16 in 2017 and Grainne Gallanagh finished in the Top 20 in 2018.