One Tipperary Woman May Just Have Landed the Dream Job

Aine Hickey - you lucky, lucky lady. 

On Monday mornings in particular, you might be prone to daydreaming a little about what you might be doing instead of your usual 9 to 5 slog... and the kind of role you'd only love to get paid for.

Mattress tester, TV watcher and professional lip-syncer to Beyoncé videos may all feature in this little imaginary world of Dream Jobs, but now one Tipperary lady may just have landed the sweetest gig of them all.

Aine, from Clonmel, has been appointed official Irish sweet taster for Swizzels.

The famous sweet brand launched a search for someone to take on the job and unsurprisingly received thousands of applications.

Aine grew up in her family’s sweet shop so when a friend heard the competition announcement she decided she definitely had to put herself forward for the distinguished role.

Now, the Tipperary lady is part of the new product development team, responsible for taste testing new sweets and products before they hit shelves, as well as helping to develop new tastes and flavours.

To celebrate her first day on the job, Aine was flown over to spend the day behind the scenes at Swizzels headquarters in Derbyshire to see how iconic sweets such as Drumstick Lollies and Love Hearts are made.

Aine Hickey said: “The whole experience was amazing. From the walk up to the factory gate where you instantly get the aroma of sweets, to seeing how my favourite sweets are made. In particular, putting the individual phrases on Love Hearts and seeing the soft chew of Refresher bars packaged up in bright colours. I felt like a child at Christmas who got everything on their wish list and I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Everyone I met was so friendly and welcoming and the whole experience was a lifetime dream come true.”