Saud Mooge, who is a 25-year-old medical scientist born in Sligo, said she has been the subject of countless racist comments since she was announced as the Dublin Rose last week
Saud Mooge(Image: @sucaad.irl / Instagram)
Saud Mooge has bravely opened up about the racist comments she has been receiving on social media since she was chosen to represent Dublin at this year’s Rose of Tralee festival.
The 25-year-old medical scientist said she was ‘shocked but not surprised’ at receiving the online abuse, but the extent of it has taken her aback.
“It’s just been a lot of, basically, ‘You’re not Irish.’ I think that’s kind of been the general consensus on the socials. A lot of mentions about skin tone, religion, a lot of people saying, ‘She has no Irish heritage’, ‘She’s not born here’.
“They aren’t really reading the information; they’re just assuming, ‘Oh, she was born somewhere else.’ If you actually read the bio, you’d see I was born in Ireland, born and raised in Ireland, mind you.” She added that people are “running on a hate train without reading anything”.
Saud was born in Sligo and brought up in Dublin. She said that, sadly, the abuse she is receiving is all “part of the experience of growing up in Ireland as a person of colour.”
“I take pride in going forward for things like this, considering the reaction I have received. Change is needed, and I’m just grateful to be given the opportunity to be at the forefront of this to show girls like me that they can go for this.” The Dublin Rose told Kieran Cuddihy on RTÉ Radio 1’s Liveline.
Saud also mentioned that there were over 4,000 posts on X (formerly Twitter) about her win, and that she had to turn off her TikTok notifications because people were commenting every few minutes. She added that some commenters have ‘absolutely’ been pushing back against the hate and defending her.
“I was raised by a strong household of women and I’m not one to allow other people’s opinions to phase me. I know I’m Irish. I don’t have to prove to anybody how Irish I am. I am very confident and very secure in that fact.”
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