A young teacher is thanking his Donegal roots for helping him secure a dream job as a caretaker on one of Ireland’s most remote islands this summer.
Darren McFadden, 34, will look after the running of An Blascaod Mór off West Kerry.
Along with girlfriend Emma Melay, 26, Darren will run a coffee shop as well as tending to four holiday cottages and guests during the busy summer season.
But with no electricity and all of their food being resourced from the mainland, it’s going to be one of the great challenges they ever faced.
The young couple were chosen out of 300 people across the world who applied for the role.
And Darren’s Donegal roots played no small part in persuading judges that they were the right people for the job!
Islanders Alice Hayes and Billy O’Connor assessed the applications for the caretaker roles.
Ms Hayes said they stood out – not least of all because of Darren’s Donegal background.
She said: “Emma and Darren came across really down to earth, easy to chat to and enthusiastic about the role.
“When we FaceTimed in January, they were sitting in Darren’s grandmother house, located in a remote part of Donegal and explained how they enjoyed going without basic amenities, no Wi-Fi etc., a similar setup to the Island, which stuck in our heads.”
Darren, who was reared in Celbridge, Co Kildare, said they are really looking forward to the challenge.
“We are really excited about it and a little bit overwhelmed as we never expected to be chosen,” Mr McFadden said.
“We’ll miss being away from our family and friends, but we’ll be meeting lots of interesting people.
“We’ve started packing, we hope to get the boat out there in the next few days depending on the weather, but we are looking forward to it and the change of lifestyle,” he added.
For full story see https://www.rte.ie/news/regional/2024/0319/1438807-blasket-islands/
