Up and Coming: Miss Ireland 2023 Jasmine Gerhardt

Jasmine Gerhardt was recently crowned Miss Ireland 2023.

The 25-year-old has entered the annual pageant on three occasions, placing first runner-up in 2022.

The Clonsilla native, who has a law degree and a masters degree in Human Rights and European Union Law behind her, aspires to work for the United Nations.

Goss.ie spoke to Jasmine for our latest Up and Coming feature, in which she reveals how she got involved in pageants and her inspiring aspirations for the future.

The Dubliner also disputes the negative perceptions about beauty pageants, as she prepares to represent Ireland at Miss World in 2024.

Find out more about Jasmine in our exclusive chat below:

Q. Congratulations on being crowned Miss Ireland 2023. What was that experience like?

It was literally so overwhelming. It’s been a dream of mine since I was 17 years old.

This is a dream I’ve been chasing for seven years. So to get the crown on my head was just surreal.

Q. You’re going to represent Ireland at Miss World 2024. Do you feel a pressure associated with that?

Obviously it’s a massive responsibility to represent your country at Miss World, but to be honest I’m more excited and I’m looking at showcasing to the world what Ireland has to offer.

I’m hoping to place really high, if not win Miss World. That would be the biggest dream of my life. So I’m going there with that attitude and I’m ready for it.

Q. Miss World is going to come around really quickly. Have you scoped out the competition yet?

To be honest, not so much. I’m competing in December 2024, so some of the national pageants for the girls haven’t actually commenced yet.

The next Miss World is in March, and Ivanna McMahon is going to that, so I’ve been looking at the girls that are in that and I think they’re all amazing, amazing women.

There are some women in there that are UN spokeswomen, there are lawyers, doctors, there’s everything, and the advocacies they have behind them are so powerful. I’m looking to them for inspiration, but I have my own few projects running at the moment which I’m excited to get out into the media.

Q. When were you first introduced to pageants?

My mam was actually in Miss Ireland in 1986. When I was 17, I first entered. Someone reached out to me on Facebook and said ‘You should go on to Miss Ireland’, and I remember telling my mam and she was like ‘Oh, I was in Miss Ireland’ and showed me all these pictures of her in the pageant.

That was my first encounter with the organisation. I’ve done it three times – I did Miss Ireland when I was 17, Miss Ireland last year where I came first runner-up, and Miss Ireland this year where I won.

It’s been a journey to say the least.

Q. There are a lot of negative connotations associated with pageants. What do you say to that?

It’s something I really disagree with. There’s nothing more inspiring and empowering.

There were 28 girls in the competition this year, and they were all advocating for social issues and they’re all educated girls, women who speak and they’re the women of the future.

They’re the next leaders we’ll have in this country for sure. Being surrounded by people like that is never a con, it’s always, always a pro.

Q. Do you ever find that people doubt your smarts because of your involvement in pageants?

I think there are always more nice people than there are bad. I have a law degree and a master’s degree, I have languages by me and I advocate for domestic violence in Ireland.

If people really had the time to get to know me, they’d know that’s not true. But I’m sure people have perceptions of what a girl in a pageant should be, but it’s really evolved in the last few years.

Even all the previous winners of Miss World and Miss Universe, they’re all extremely powerful and educated women and that’s what I aim to be.

Hopefully I get the message across that a pageant isn’t just a pretty dress, it’s so much more.

Q. Having competed in pageants yourself, would you be happy for your future daughters, or the younger women in your life to follow suit?

100%. I can’t wait until I have my own little girl and I can start this journey all over again.

Pageants have really shaped me into who I am. They’ve given me drive and ambition for the last few years to chase this dream through the organisation putting me out of my comfort zone.

It’s crazy when I look back really. I’ve done things that I wouldn’t have done on my own.

Q. You completed a master’s degree in Human Rights and European Union Law, and I presume you work a full-time job as well. Did you find it difficult to juggle it all?

Yeah, I was working a full-time job in a hedge fund, but I’m hopefully going to take a break.

I’m trying to sit the bar in April, I was actually considering even sitting the New York bar – so that’s been on my mind.

I think it’s time to take some time out to focus on my exams and the role I have for the year. It was difficult, I’m not gonna lie.

It was difficult working a full-time job and also competing because it takes up a lot of your time, and you obviously want to put the best effort in possible, and meet the most people.

I work with domestic violence so it’s important for me to go in and meet the women who are in the shelters.

With the year I have taking a bit of a break, I’ll have loads of time to focus on all of that.

Q. You’ve said previously that your aspiration is to work for the United Nations. Can you tell us a bit about why you want to do that?

Amal Clooney has always been a massive inspiration of mine.

Since I was very young, I’ve always wanted to give back and help. It’s just something that’s installed in me. It makes me feel like I have purpose in life.

I actually got the opportunity to go to a UN HCR camp in Lebanon. They are Syrian refugees who fled the war, who have now been given accommodation, well tents, on the Lebanese border where they live.

I went in there and it just really inspired me to be able to create such change, nationally and globally, and to be a spokesperson for women and children who don’t have a voice. That’s something I really, really want to do with my life.

As I said, Amal Clooney does that. She speaks for people who don’t have the opportunity or the chance to. That’s what I would love to do with my life and career moving forward.

Q. What’s next for you in the coming months?

I’m not sure at the moment, but I know already it’s going to be really busy. I have a few things planned. I’ll have some interviews and photoshoots.

I also really want to push my advocacy for domestic violence, set up more shelters.

I was able to write a children’s book earlier this year, I want to write more stories about social issues in Ireland and read them to young people, and hopefully make any kind of difference I can.

That’s what I’ll be mainly focusing on. I’ll also be studying for the bar – that’ll definitely take up a lot of time.

Q. Where do you see yourself in five years?

Hopefully with the Miss World crown – that would be amazing. They say dream big, so here I am dreaming big.

I’d love to be in my dream career, I’d love to work for the UN. If I ever got the chance to represent the world with the Miss World crown – wow. The opportunities that that would open for me would just be insane.

I hope to be more involved in my community and raise awareness for all the social issues that I stand for.