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BRIDES AND GROOMS are continuing to marry at an older age according to new stats released by the Central Statistics Office.
Figures for 2016 show that the average age of a groom in an opposite-sex marriage is now 35.7 years compared to 35.3 years in 2015. That translates to grooms being an average of about five months older.
Brides in an opposite-sex couple now marry at an average age of 33.8 years compared to 33.2 years last year. That’s about seven months older.
In same-sex marriages the partners are generally older when they marry. Men in same-sex marriages are 40.5 years on average while women are 41.
The trend in the increasing average age for brides and grooms has been rising year-on-year with 2016 the oldest in both cases.
“In the past 50 years, the average age of grooms decreased from 29 years in 1966 to a low of 26.2 years in 1977 and increased to a high of 35.7 years in 2016,” the CSO stated today.
A similar trend is evident for brides with the average age decreasing from 25.7 in 1966 to 24.0 in 1977 and increasing to a high of 33.8 in 2016.
Grooms were older than brides in 62.3% of opposite-sex marriages.
Marriage equality
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A Dublin mural ahead of the 2015 marriage equality referendum. Leah Farrell / Photocall Ireland
Leah Farrell / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland
In the first full year in which same-sex couples could marry, there were 1,056 such unions in 2016, making up 4.7% of all marriages in the State.
In the case of same-sex marriages, the majority (56.6%) of those who married were previously single while 39.8% had previously been in a civil partnership.
Seven civil partnership ceremonies were performed last year.
In the case of opposite sex couples, 87.8% of marriages were the first marriage for both the bride and groom.
There were 2,444 marriages involving at least one divorced person in 2016, including 552 marriages where both parties were divorced.
Take me to church
Alan Hughes and Karl Broderick had their wedding in the Unitarian Church on St Stephen's Green. Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland
Sasko Lazarov / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland
In 2016, religious ceremonies accounted for 64.8% of all marriages with Catholic ceremonies the largest of that group at 53.7%.
The majority of non-religious ceremonies were civil marriages at 28.5% of all marriages.
Same-sex couples were far less likely to have a religious ceremony with 80.5% of such marriages being civil ceremonies. The next most popular way for same-sex couples to marry was in Humanists ceremonies at 9.2% of ceremonies.
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Review will be carried out..government witless specimen wheels out ‘we remained committed to implementing these findings blah blah blah’..report goes on a shelf and nothing changes.
@Harry Price: varadkar calls for Mc Cabes questions to be answered just pulled from the journal after 3 views Hmmm before the vote in the dail? run with it journal..
@Tony Canning: 19;18 and still the story is missing, Varadakar calls for McCabes questions to be answered now. was the headline, don’t understand it, its a story so why redact it before tonights vote?
@ Harry. It was a despicable thing to accuse you of and the garda harassment was/is totally unwarranted and hopefully those that accused and indeed allowed the accusations to be printed should be sued. I happen to know you quite well and I can with my hand on my heart say that you are not an abuser of any kind and in fact you are a gentleman. These accusers that hide behind pseudonym’s will be found out and hopefully charged & sued.
Spot on Peadar. The bogus Independents have now stood in support of family home evictions, Apple’s tax dodging and continued corruption at the most senior levels of the Gardai. Any other betrayals that I’ve missed?
@ciaran: seeing that the Journal ie removed my fact printed herein just now …….is what i expect from a dictatorship ..can i ask why did you the journal allow the mob attack my character during the gardai dispute by way of insightment
Didn’t the Morris tribunal recommend this and pointed to systemic changes necessary within an Garda, after what came to light in Donegal years ago. Wasn’t that on FFs watch???
@Brian Mulligan: this disturbing interview tells the story of how deep the corruption and collusion of the guards and Tusla has actually gone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfJ9xdfq7Fs
@Ciaran What do you do when the truth is not told Lies are been told in the Dail lies will be told in front of a Judge as happened before Lock up at least four of the main players . Job done.
@Emmet O’Keeffe: Yes, but did you see how quickly it was announced – this independent review – now that FG heads are on the line? Days.
And Varadkar is going to make a speech tonight and it will be his play for the leadership. He’s going to capitalise on this and make himself out as Mr nice guy. He makes my skin crawl now.
Kenny is on the way out, Varadkar and Coveney today told TDs to be ready for an early election. Kenny has a few weeks left if he’s lucky. They’ll send him off to the US for Paddy’s day as they can;t send that dope Varadkar as he has stated Trump should;t be invited to Ireland. That was silly popularism on his behalf and it will come back to bite him in him in the ass. My money is on Coveney to win it, and for the nub of political power to move to Cork for the next few years as Martin will be Taoiseach and FG will prop them up under Coveney.
“We considered it” Yeah and then realised what the electorate would do to you at the polling station so decided to kep your noses firmly in the trough. Sickening to think they’ll all survive this relatively unscathed.
Why have the Independent Alliance and Fianna Fáil not pulled the plug??? Bloody disgrace. Edna caught in a bare faced lie and we are supposed to trust this shower of nincompoops in Brexit negotiations. And Noonan meeting Cerebus a day before the sale of project Eagle. Sick of the whole lot of them. Basturds
Current head of the Garda inspectorate is an ex Chicago chief of police, surely this would cover the international investigation rather than creating another investigative body? I’m open to correction, but couldn’t the current inspectorate bring criminal charges of anything is found to be out of order? Does this mean the IA don’t have faith in the current inspectorate and how can the commissioner remain in place if this investigation goes ahead??
I would say it means bringing in an independent investigator. I wouldn’t say a currently employed member qualifies. I’d say they could and it hasn’t been done. Therefore…
So, an international “Policing Expert” will carry out a “review”? Great. To go along with the Inspectorate Report. Will the Policing Expert then have a role to implement his/her recommendations? To go along with the Garda Inspectorate, Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission and the Independent Policing Authority? And will the government, Garda Commissioner and her Garda management team ever take a single bit of notice of anything they say? And what happens when the Tribunal is over in 2025, after we give several million € in the form of €3,000 a day to every Senior Counsel that can grab their own ass with both hands? We can all settle down now so and get busy forgetting out the stitch up job they did on MMcC
Former Boston Police Chief did that in 2007. The Garda staff stonewalled her every move. Read her findings. Why repeat the exercise? Of course they ignored her recommendations. I.E. we still have a couple thousand Gardai doing office chores. A meager attempt is being made to hire a couple hundred civilians. Oh and btw, our government needs a root/branch relaunch!!!
Independent Alliance can funk right off. They have “been very supportive of Maurice McCabe and his family.” but where disturbed to hear of the allegations?…Enjoy your pensions, gents.
These parasites will only change when people on the streets protest.Their not going to hang each other because of a few Comments here and there,Rte have been casual at best interviewing Fine Gael,a clear out there is needed too.Fine gaels corrupt ways may yet see people marching if Kenny stays after being caught lying again.
Please please please can we get an actual expert who knows policing and will have the time and authority to do a complete down and dirty review? Instead of the Inspectorate which is ignored when it doesnt suit and can only access and speak with rank and file Gardai while the Super / Management are standing in the room doing cut throat motions?
If an election is called, there is unfortunately too great a chance for certain ministers not turning up at any investigation that is going to happen, trust me they will have excuses, but those involved should step aside from their duties in the meantime. An election I presume will then happen.
There is no independent investigator appointed and there will not be. This outfit will make recommendations like many before them and those recommendations will be ignored. This has happened several times before, there was the gang of 3 many years ago, there was the Morris report which made recommendations. We know from all this there will be no change.
What a stunt. The national leader tells pure lie after lie, along with our the second in command, in official statements and then to the media and the House . After a week of lies, the politicians seems to be excluded from every form of reform or investigation.
Every house journalist and every house member has known about this file for at least 12 months, listen to any podcasts on it over past two weeks, it existed originally in the HSE referred to Tusla and Garda, but now somehow it’s the Garda that are responsible for all knowledge of it to everyone and the accountability for the report is initially with the HSE. Tusla and HSE it would seem do not need REFORM in being ultimately responsible for accusing an innocent man of child abuse. A Greater respect to the left everyday they at least acknowledge political reform is what this country needs the rest will follow.
I am watching the Dail Depate on TV. Fine Gael’s answer to their torment of Gardai is to harrang Sinn Fein for killing Gardai. In other words, because Sinn Fein IRA killed Guards, its all right for Fine Gael to tell lies about their Gardai.
I said before, don’t vote in the next election, I now say, don’t vote, but I except, Roisin Shorthall, Mike Wallace and Michael Fitzmaurice. They are the exception
We have had enough endless reports tribunals commissions and toothless (so called) oversight of the guards for years and nothing has changed except it now come to this crisis, which is now attracting international attention.
We have a corrupt police force and a commissioner and top brass who cannot be sacked because they are entitled to due process.
How these people think they can have any respect and confidence with the rank and file ,and the ordinary citizen is beyond my comprehension.
If you were running a sweet shop and couldn`t do your job, you would be removed.
If you are in charge of the security and safety of the citizens and the country itself ,you cannot be asked to step aside, even if if you and your colleagues are the subject of tribunal . Welcome to Ireland 2017.(Not Russia, Zimbabwe or any so called south American banana republic)
@Patrick James Walsh: Boomtown Rats Banana Republic is apt for a new anthem or the sketch of Father Ted with the car and the song ghost town comes to mind.
Seriously just fire O’sullivan and bring in a commissioner from the outside. She is not the only one at fault but she should not have been given the job day one.
Root and Branch report will sit on the other expert external reports gathering dust in the bottom of some civil servant office. The only people happy will be the so called experts from the UK the the west brit Fine Gaelers will bring in to put manners on the whistle blowers showing up their private security firm e.g. the Garda. The legal profession to make a financial killing. Root and Branch report will be handed over the Special Branch sitting in the trees turning the report into paper aeroplanes.
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