This week Róisín Ingle meets Sinead Burke, who also goes by the alias Minnie Mélange when competing in (and winning) the Alternative Miss Ireland contest. Sinead is a primary school teacher, phd student and fashion blogger, and in her Extraordinary Women series she has interviewed Lisa Dwan, Stephanie Roche and Áine Lawlor. She tells Róisín about how being a little person has not hindered her life, and they discuss whether her unusual height has given her a special understanding of other minority groups.
“My mother... gave me a belief and a confidence and a worth, that I could do anything that anyone else could do. I may have to manoeuvre myself or find different ways of doing it but it should never stop me and whether that was college or setting up a blog, going to London Fashion Week, standing at the front of a room or doing a phd, that principle has stuck with me”.
“If somebody, without knowing me, comes up to me and wants to upset or belittle me, I think that reflects badly on them, not me... if you’re ever unsure of what to call me or someone like me, my name always does well.”