Miss Ireland hopeful says scarring after champagne glass incident won't keep her down

The Dundalk native was attending an event recently when her trusty high heels went from under her and she was cut by a glass.

"I was at a party when a group of us were asked to come together for a photograph," she told the Herald.

"I twisted on my heels and when I fell the glass splintered through my hand. It was so bad that they wouldn't let me look at it," she added.

The business studies student was due to sit her final year exams the following week and had to defer them as a result.

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"When I got to the hospital they told me there was an 80pc chance I wouldn't regain the use of my hand," she said.

"If I'd been cut a few millimetres further down my wrist I could have lost the use of my whole arm.

"Luckily, it wasn't that bad - I haven't any feeling in three of my fingers but hopefully it'll come back slowly as the nerves heel.

"I've had a few operations and I'm still in and out of the hospital for check-ups," she added.

Instead of having her hair done, picking outfits and practising her strut, Yasmin has spent the last few weeks studying - sitting her final Dublin Institute of Technology exam yesterday.

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"The Miss Ireland final is on Friday, but I decided to put everything into my exams and focus on the competition for the rest of the week," she said.

"I had to do my exams on a laptop because of my hand, but I'm so grateful that it wasn't much worse.

"I wouldn't normally be an overly confident person, but this has convinced me to just go for it. I entered a few years back, but I'm a lot more comfortable with who I am now," she added.

This year will mark the first time the bikini contest has been removed from the beauty pageant, and Yasmin (22) welcomes the change.

"I think it takes a lot of pressure off the girls," she said.

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"It's more about focusing on the beauty with a purpose."

Meanwhile, the judges for the contest, which is sponsored by Gold Fever Hair Extensions, have also been revealed.

This year's winner will be chosen by former crown holders, Aoife Walsh, Rebecca Maguire and Amanda Brunker, as well as So Sue Me's Suzanne Jackson and Gold Fever creator Katie Jane Goldin.