A Day In The Life 'We are all activists within our own lives and the community is so essential to that' - MEP Maria Walsh MEP speaks to Kilkenny People's Siobhan Donohoe Reporter: '); Maria Walsh was born in Boston and raised on a family farm along the Mayo-Galway border in Shrule. In 2014, she was crowned the International Rose of Tralee. In the week following her coronation, Maria revealed that she is gay. Up until July 2019, Maria served as a member of the Irish Reserve Defence Force in the First Armoured Cavalry Squadron, based in the Curragh in Co Kildare.