Irish women jumped into the top ten of the planet's best-looking nationalities status by the dating website BeautifulPeople.com in 2012.

Despite the success of Irish females, Irish men were ranked as the globe's third ugliest.

A mere 12 percent of Irish men who applied to join the dating site had their profiles accepted, CorkNews.ie reported.

To gain entry to the club a potential member applies with a photo and a brief profile. Over 48 hours, existing members of the opposite sex vote whether or not to admit them into their exclusive fold. Options are 'Yes definitely', 'Hmm yes, O.K', 'Hmm no, not really' and 'NO Definitely NOT'.

In some slight consolation, Irish men have improved in recent years since they were ranked as the world’s ugliest in 2011.

Swedish men were ranked the most handsome at 65 percent, followed by Brazil at 42 percent and Denmark at 40 percent.

Irish lads also beat their British and Polish counterparts on the dating site where only 9 percent of men managed to get a spot on the dating website.

Greg Hodge, managing director of BeautifulPeople.com said: "Irish women have had the biggest move up the rankings, going from 14th place at 19% accepted in 2011 to a very impressive tenth place, at 23%, last year.

He added: "Although Irish men are still represented as the third ugliest country in the world for men, the fact that they come in above their English counterparts does offer a small consolation."

BeautifulPeople.com now has a global membership that exceeds 540,000. Up to 4 million unique visitors visit the site daily, according to a press statement.

* Originally published in 2012.