A young Irishwoman is due to jet to Australia today for just €10 in search of a new life after winning a dream job competition.
Shauneen McGuckin, 23, was to be at Dublin Airport for 4am to catch her 8.30am flight for the chance of a lifetime. She was hand-picked out of 16,000 hopefuls who had all applied to an Aussie tourism promotion.
The scheme by the South Australia Tourism Commission promised a flight for a tenner from Dublin on Qatar Airways to Adelaide, the coastal capital of south Australia, with a dream job waiting Down Under.
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GAA fan Shauneen, from Magherafelt in Derry, said: “It has been absolutely manic getting ready because I had a wedding, then my graduation at university, and now I’m flying from Dublin to Australia. Can’t wait. I saw the report and thought it was a scam because it just seemed to be too good to be true, but I applied anyway.
“And then they rang me from Australia – but I still didn’t believe it at first because I never win anything. The job runs until next May, but they haven’t told me what the job is yet.
“I am hoping that it is something to do with my university degree in international business and marketing. But I am also a swimming coach, so it would be great to combine the two.”
Shauneen added: “I’m really excited, I’m buzzing. It has all gone so fast.
“I have never been away from home for 11 months in one stretch before. I’ve always been a real homebird, so 11 months is going to be so different. It’s going to be all new to me, but I will be okay. The accommodation is central, so it won’t be hard to meet people and make friends.
“I’ve already asked [the SATC] if I have come back home on the return flight next May. They said I can stay, if everything is going well. I’ve been saying goodbye to my family and joking that I won’t be back.
“I’m looking forward to my first Christmas on an Aussie beach, although it will also be the first at home without my mum [Teresa] and dad [Niall]. My sisters Aisling [24] and Bronagh [27] live in Dublin, so it will be only mum and dad and my brother Shane [13] at home this year.”
Bosses at South Australia Tourism Commission have also promised Shauneen a welcome pack, including accommodation on arrival, and access to a tax file number and bank account. They opened the travel job scheme to Irish citizens, aged 18-30, who have an Oz Working Holiday Visa, and could travel to Adelaide before September 30, 2022.
Some 16,000 people across Ireland and the UK applied for the 200 positions – with two of the lucky ones being Shauneen and Galway woman Niamh Mulkerrins, 29, who jetted to Adelaide last month.
Niamh said: “I’d been working in insurance for the last seven years in Ireland so I was seriously ready for a new adventure.”
Organisers hope Irish citizens will help fill employment gaps and skills shortages that hit the Australian economy during the Covid-19 pandemic. Australian chef and TV presenter John Torode is an ambassador for the scheme.
The Masterchef host said: “So many young people in Ireland have been denied the opportunities to travel during the pandemic.”
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