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<\/p>\nIra from Newry volunteers as a pet therapy dog in her spare time!<\/p>\n
Co Down Nose of Tralee Ira<\/p>\n
The owner of a five-year-old pet therapy dog from Newry is asking you to “vote for Ira” as she represents Co Down<\/a> in this year’s Nose of Tralee.<\/p>\n The Cavachon “with a heart as big as her personality” will be representing her county in the 2026 Nose of Tralee competition which will see pets from across each county in Ireland go up against each other to be crowned the winner.<\/p>\n Ira has been chosen as this year’s representative for Co Down and has been described as “a gentle, caring companion, who brings comfort and happiness to everyone she meets.” She also volunteers as a pet therapy dog with the Southern Health & Social Care Trust, visiting children’s hospital wards, rehabilitation homes for older adults, and supported living services for teenagers with disabilities.<\/p>\n Co Down Nose of Tralee Ira<\/p>\n Her owner Inis said: “During one visit, a young boy who would not usually engage positively, reacted to Ira by reaching out to pet her. The support workers were amazed and delighted by his response, showing just how powerful the bond between people and animals can be.”<\/p>\n She continued: “I’m absolutely delighted that Ira is a finalist, although I always knew she would do well because she really is such an amazing little dog. She has a very special personality and seems to make an impression wherever she goes.<\/p>\n Co Down Nose of Tralee Ira<\/p>\n “She volunteers with the Southern Health & Social Care Trust, bringing so much joy to the people she meets, and she’s even travelled all the way to Vancouver, Canada with me. She’s had more adventures than most dogs! I’m incredibly proud that she now gets to represent County Down in the Nose of Tralee.”<\/p>\n If you would like to vote for Ira in this year’s competition you can do so via this link: https:\/\/m.shortstack.page\/BPpVFx?sre=q45VxBhXRVmApFE<\/a><\/p>\n For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage <\/strong>here<\/a> and sign up to our daily newsletter<\/a> here<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ira from Newry volunteers as a pet therapy dog in her spare time! Co Down Nose of Tralee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1117327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5011],"tags":[88580,690,5820,1144,16,15],"class_list":["post-1117326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-northern-ireland","tag-co-down","tag-dogs","tag-newry","tag-northern-ireland","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117001189707997825","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1117326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1117326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1117327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1117326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1117326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1117326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Co](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0_WhatsApp-Image-2026-07-28-at-131744jpeg.jpg\")
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