Europe’s largest low-cost airline, Ryanair has placed a job ad for a transition year student who will be responsible for deciding which countries make it onto Ireland’s quarantine-free travel list. Responsibilities including playing Bingo, Darts and Charades to decide which countries travellers can visit without the need to self-isolate on their return.
Dublin-based Ryanair has been an outspoken critic of the Irish government’s approach to international travel during the Coronavirus pandemic, describing Ireland as “the laughing stock of Europe” over its decision to open up so-called travel corridors with just seven other countries.
The airline says the “excessive and defective travel restrictions” force travellers from countries with significantly lower COVID-19 infection rates than Ireland into mandatory 14-day quarantine on their arrival in the country.
As a result, Ryanair claims customer confidence has plummeted and forward bookings are dropping off a cliff edge. Along with an apparent second wave of the Coronavirus sweeping across some countries in Europe and renewed travel restrictions, Ryanair now says it has been forced to slash its schedule by a further 20 per cent in October to just 40 per cent of last year’s levels.
Despite pleading with the Irish government to reassess its approach, the official quarantine-free list of countries stands at just seven. In contrast, a safe list compiled by European health experts stands at 21 countries.
“We have been exclusively retained by the Irish Government in their search for a Junior Cert/Transition Year Student who will have sole responsibility for compiling Ireland’s Green list on a weekly basis,” reads the job ad posted on Ryanair’s official recruitment website.
It lists the main job responsibility as compiling Ireland’s Green List based on the following activities:
- Bingo
- The Lotto (Euro Millions)
- Pin the donkey to the tail (in this case the country)
- Scrabble
- Darts (each number represents a country and you only have 6 darts each week)
- Snap
- Charades
“You will also be responsible for ensuring that the Dail Bar is sufficiently stocked with Guinness (Beamish) nuts and it is kept clean and tidy,” the ad continues.
“No prior experience is required and preference will be given to applicants who have attention to detail and are very good at analysing data, this is something we are lacking in the team at the moment.”
While mocking the government over its current approach to international travel, the job ad does also have a serious point, going onto say that the role “will have a big influence on travel for our citizens and the wider economy.”
