Laura Patterson is an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 model who was crowned Miss Ireland

Miss Ireland

Miss Ireland is a national beauty pageant held in the Republic of Ireland each year, to celebrate the country's most beautiful women. Winners of the contest represent Ireland at the Miss World pageant. Other winners, including Roberta Brown and Siobhan McClaffey have also been delegates at rival...

 2009. She is from Derry

Derry

Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...

, Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...

.

Patterson was studying Law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 and Accountancy

Accountancy

Accountancy is the process of communicating financial information about a business entity to users such as shareholders and managers. The communication is generally in the form of financial statements that show in money terms the economic resources under the control of management; the art lies in...

 at the University of Ulster

University of Ulster

The University of Ulster is a multi-campus, co-educational university located in Northern Ireland. It is the largest single university in Ireland, discounting the federal National University of Ireland...

 when she beat thirty-one other contestants to win the title in a ceremony held at the The Royal Marine Hotel, Dublin. Judges included Michelle Heaton

Michelle Heaton

Michelle Christine Heaton is a British pop singer, television personality, and recently a glamour model as well. She was married to former boyband member Andy Scott-Lee.-Career:...

 and former Miss Ireland Vivienne Doyle. Prior to her victory, Patterson had been crowned Miss Teen Ireland 2005. The aspiring media

Mass media

Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...

 patitioner now models for Converse and Assets, and represented Ireland at Miss World 2009

Miss World 2009

Miss World 2009, the 59th Miss World pageant, was held on December 12, 2009 at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa. 112 contestants from all over the world competed for the crown, marking the biggest turnout in the pageant's history...

 in South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

.

Unlike most title holders, Patterson was not based in Dublin ("I think it's great that this year's Miss Ireland comes from the city...I will be staying [in Derry]").

In October 2009, Patterson returned to her job as a shelf-stacker at Tesco

Tesco

Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...

, as she loved her job and had no plans to resign.