By Julie McLaughlin
A local teenager has won a national beauty pageant competition. Eighteen-year-old Meghan McAlerney, from Leitrim, won the Miss London City 2025 competition recently, making her the first person from Northern Ireland to do so. Meghan said she was happy to win this title.
“I was surprised and honoured to win the title as I was the youngest competitor,” she said. “This is the first time that the title has been awarded to someone from Northern Ireland, so an historic first for the competition, which has been running for 12 years now. I was the only competitor from NI.”
Meghan is a past pupil of St Malachy’s High School in Castlewellan. The youngest of four sisters, she is currently doing an apprenticeship in marketing as well as working in her family pub in Leitrim, Mac’s Corner House Bar, and at Coco’s Adventure Playground in Newcastle.
Meghan was crowned on 26 October during the national finals of the Miss London City competition, which was held at the Wesley Euston hotel in central London. As a contestant, Meghan represented the island of Ireland as Miss Emerald Isle. Miss London City is a national beauty pageant held annually in London for young women living, studying or working in the UK, with competitors representing various towns, cities, and regions.
The young women taking part in the event were judged on different categories, such as sportswear, fashion wear, and evening wear. They were also interviewed by the judges before they went on stage and during the finals. Meghan said this was “to see how well you can do under pressure,” but that she was not very nervous.
“I had previously been a finalist in Miss NI, so I think that gave me a really good foundation in what to expect in the competition,” she said. “I really enjoyed the whole experience as Miss Emerald Isle. It’s difficult to choose one special moment.”
In addition to winning the main title, Meghan also was awarded the titles of Miss Publicity and Miss Beauty with Presence. She said that she received the Miss Publicity award for her social media presence, primarily on Instagram, highlighting the things she was doing in relation to the Miss London City competition.
“I think that my marketing experience really helped with that,” she said.
Meghan received the Miss Beauty with Presence award for her charity work that she had done in the lead-up to the national finals. This included sponsored running and hosting a raffle to raise money for charity. The Miss London City competition puts an emphasis on charitable work as ‘Beauty with Presence’ is the ethos of the organisation.
The competition organisers have said that each winner chooses a charity to support during their year as a way to use their platform to change the lives of others. “Making a difference and being an ambassador for good causes is at the forefront of Miss London City and The Miss London City Pageants,” the Miss London City website said.
As the winner, Meghan also received a number of prizes, including the chance to take part in photo shoots, media opportunities, and the chance to represent London at other pageants. “Most importantly, I gained a platform to support causes I’m passionate about and to be involved in community and charity events across the city,” Meghan said.
In the full article Meghan goes on to explain what the award means for her and for the charity that she is supporting.
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