Few tempted to apply for ‘the best job in the world’

ONLY 39 people from Ireland have applied for the post of an island caretaker in the Great Barrier Reef, billed as the “best job in the world.”

Despite the dire economic forecast, soaring unemployment and seemingly endless winter, Australian tourism chiefs revealed there is relatively little interest in their dream vacancy from the Irish. They have opened a worldwide search for their new island caretaker, willing to spend six months exploring the land and waters around the Great Barrier Reef for €76,000.

The post would involve moving to a rent-free three-bedroom villa, complete with pool, on Hamilton Island in Australia’s tropical Whitsunday Islands.