It's a brogue's gallery for Rose host Dáithí

Rose Of Tralee host Dáithí O Sé has revealed some of the overseas Roses taking part in the contest this year have been attempting to familiarise themselves with his Kerry dialect, by viewing clips of him online.

"They were telling me they were watching me on YouTube, just trying to get to grips with my Kerry accent. The gas thing is that since I've moved up to Dublin, I've lost my big, thick Kerry accent. I'd say by the time I'm on stage in Tralee I will be speaking like everyone in Dublin 4. That's just so people inside The Pale can understand me. Because obviously everything happens inside The Pale," Dáithí joked to The Diary.

Whether they can understand him or not, the 34-year-old was the centre of female attention at a media launch for the Roses attended by The Diary in RTE this week.

But the question on everybody's lips was Dáithí's status. Single or spoken for?

"Well, I'm not going out with any of the Roses, I can tell you that," he said, adding: "It's not about me. It's about the Roses."

But then he had the media pack's collective tongues hanging out when he ventured: "There is one Rose who has caught my eye but I really can't talk about her. Neither am I giving her any special attention," he joked.

With previous host Ray D'Arcy warning him "to get a light suit off Louis Copeland because you'll be roasting up there on stage", we're glad to hear Dáithí was spotted down in Capel Street this week trying on a snazzy black dress suit made from extra-light fabric.

The 52nd International Rose Of Tralee Festival will be broadcast live from the Festival Dome in Tralee on RTE1 TV on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 from 8pm.