Irish Island advertises for two friends to live there for free and run a coffee shop

If your New Year’s Resolution was to slow things down and embrace a more mindful way of life, a career change involving a six-month stint on a remote Irish island could be the answer.

Great Blasket Island, approximately four miles long and half a mile wide with an official population of precisely zero permanent residents, has advertised a one-of-a-kind job opportunity.

“A unique position required – looking for long term management of Island Accommodation and Coffee Shop,” tweeted the island’s tourist board. “Couple or two friends. 1st April 2020 – October 2020 accommodation and food provided.”

The social media post has so far received more than 5,000 likes and the job advert has attracted inquiries from as far away as South Africa and Alaska.

Successful applicants would be responsible for welcoming visitors, managing the island’s holiday cottages and running the coffee shop.

Other details, such as the working hours and pay, are available on request.

Those looking for luxury lodgings need not apply, however.

“It’s intense and tough but it’s a very unique position,” Alice Hayes, who posted the job advert, told RTE. “It’s back to basics – fires, candles, stoves, wildlife, and nature.”

The island, set off the coast of the Dingle peninsula in south-west Ireland and constituting the most westerly point in Europe, is largely unspoilt, but also has no wifi, electricity or hot water for showers.

Even drinking water is limited, with visitors advised to bring their own.

There is “a little wind turbine that generates enough electricity to charge one device, so you are not completely cut off,” says Alice.

The island is set up for a very small number of tourists, with five restored self-catering cottages available to book through the tourist board.

Great Blasket’s attractions all revolve around the Great Outdoors: walks on the green road and mountain tracks, attractive flora and fauna, pre-historic remains abundant sea-life and extensive bird life are all listed among its principle charms.

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