With the news that Ireland rugby player Conor Murray is dating a 19-year-old model, everyone wants to know – who is Shauna Lindsay?
The brunette from Limerick hasn’t been one to shy away from the media spotlight, and came runner-up in the Miss Universe Ireland contest before Christmas, which I judged alongside Roz Purcell, Suzanne Jackson and James Kavanagh.
Shauna stood out to me on the night for her confidence and that glint in her eye, probably the same reason Conor, 26, stopped in his tracks when he spotted her out in a nightclub just four months ago.
Pageant queen: Shauna came runner up in Miss Universe Ireland | EVAN DOHERTY
Coincidentally, just as the news has broken that she is now in a relationship with sports star Conor, sources tell Goss.ie Shauna is about to make the move to Dublin to kick-start her modelling career.
“She really wants to make this year about her career,” a close source revealed.
“She’s sick of the commute from Limerick and there are a lot of opportunities for her in Dublin so she knew it was time.
“Obviously moving to Dublin means being closer to Conor so that was definitely apart of the decision. They are getting on great together,” the insider added.
Work: Shauna is judging the UCD Young Designer competition | VIPIRELAND.COM
Just last week Shauna posed for photos at the launch of the UCD Fashion Show in aid of the Down Syndrome Centre.
With Rob Kearney’s girlfriend Jess Redden starting to get booked for photo calls, Shauna could see her career soar in the coming months.
Clearly an ambitious young lady, in 2015 Shauna won the social media competition to become the new face of GOSH cosmetics, beating over 2,000 girls who entered.
Winning that competition also gave her an automatic entry into Miss Ireland, where she competed last year.
Before entering Miss Ireland in 2015 on behalf of GOSS, Shauna had already been a contestant.
Back in 2013 Shauna was crowned Miss Limerick, and her career in beaut pageants began.
Ambitious: Shauna has entered several beauty pageants | VIPIRELAND.COM
Although she never won either Miss Ireland or Miss Universe Ireland, she was constantly picked as a finalist, and quickly made modelling her full time job, signing with Celia Holmen Lee in Limerick and Andrea Roche in Dublin.
And her ambitions are high – as last year Shauna said her goal is to become a Victoria’s Secret model.
She has previously listed angel Adriana Lima as one of her inspirations, and clearly this photo on Facebook proves those wings certainly suit her.
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Posted by Shauna Lindsay on Tuesday, 9 February 2016
She says Roz Purcell is her idol in the modelling industry here in  Ireland, and has also entered the blogsphere, recently starting shaunalindsay.com.
While Shauna herself is happy to be in the spotlight, sources have said her family are “very private” and wouldn’t want too much attention.
A close friend of the model also told Goss.ie that she will not be commenting on her relationship with Conor anytime soon as she wants her “private life to remain private.”
Stunning: Shauna is a full time model | EVAN DOHERTY
That may be impossible if Shauna, who is signed with Andrea Roche’s modelling agency, and Conor continue their romance.
Irish people have always been obsessed with rugby stars and their other halves, from Gordon D’Arcy and Aoife Cogan to BOD and Amy, Tommy Bowe and Lucy Whitehouse and most recently Jamie Heaslip who got engaged to Sheena O’Buachalla.
Relationships with rugby stars have always been splashes across the papers, often pushing models further into the limelight, with the likes of Holly Carpenter who dated Cian Healy as well as Nadia Forde who was constantly in the press while she dated Luke Fitzgerald.
This might be a short-lived romance, but either way we will be seeing a lot more of Shauna Lindsay…
