A DUBLIN HOTEL where a child beauty pageant was due to be held this weekend has cancelled the booking, saying it was not told of the true nature of the event.

The ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’-style pageant was to take place this Saturday at the Bracken Court Hotel in Balbriggan in north county Dublin, with babies, toddlers and teens taking part in the beauty contest.

However in a statement this evening, the hotel said that the pageant ‘was not in keeping with the family ethos of the business’.

There had been criticism on Twitter of the decision to go ahead with the pageant, with one Senator calling for the event to be cancelled.

A spokesperson for the hotel said that organisers “went to great lengths to keep the venue secret” and had “taken the precaution of booking two reserve venues” for their event.

Since it was announced some months ago, it is believed that organisers of the Universal Royalty competition have struggled to find a venue in Ireland which would host the controversial event.

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As of this evening, the Facebook page for the Universal Royalty Beauty Pageant – which is one of America’s biggest child beauty pageant organisers – still says that the event will be taking place in Balbriggan this weekend.