Join me on a deserted island, anyone?

An adventurer’s search for a female companion to live with him on a deserted Donegal island has dozens of high-flyers offering to cast off their careers for the chance to become a castaway.

John McManus said the response to his online advertisement for his proposed year-long Inishfree adventure had surprised him, as he expected to hear mainly from women who hadn’t got much to give up.

“I expected to get a lot of women on the dole and free to commit for a year, but I’ve been surprised by the calibre of the applicants,” he says. “They’re well-heeled, very highly educated professional women — teachers, lawyers, doctors, people with masters and PhDs.”