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THE NUMBER OF divorced people in Ireland increased by more than 150 per cent between 2002 and 2011, according to the results of Ireland’s most recent census.
The number of divorced people rose from 35, 059 to 87,770 according to the figures, which were part of the first census since the introduction of divorce legislation in the country.
However, in contrast, the number of people identified as “separated” stood at 116,194, marking a marginal increase from 107,263 five years previously. The report points out that, as divorce in Ireland generally requires a period of separation in the first instance of up to five years, the data indicates a progression for people from separation to divorce, combined with new numbers joining the category of separation.
The study found that more women than men were separated or divorced – with 65,361 separated women compared with 50,833 separated men, and 49,685 divorced women compared with 38,085 divorced men.
The rate of marital breakdown, calculated as the number of separated and divorced persons as a proportion of those who were ever married, rose from 8.7 per cent in 2006 to 9.7 per cent in 2011.
The three locations with the highest rates of marital breakdown were Limerick city (13.5 per cent), Waterford city (12.5 per cent) and Dublin city (12.4 per cent), while the areas with the lowest rates were Cavan (8.2 per cent), Limerick county (7.9 per cent) and Galway county (7.5 per cent).
The rate of remarriage following divorce more than doubled between 2002 and 2011, increasing from 21,400 to 42,960
Men showed greater tendencies to remarry than women, with 24,079 men in the category compared with 18,881 women – which partially explains the lower number of divorced men compared with women.
The percentage of single people over the age of 15 fell from 43.1 per cent in 2006 to 41.7 per cent in 2011.
The were fewer single men (44.3 per cent) than women(39.2 per cent). In terms of location breakdown, the data show there was a higher proportion of single people in urban (45.2 per cent) than in rural (35.8 per cent) areas.
The data for those aged between 40 and 49 was considered separately as a way of measuring the number of people who were likely never to marry. This age-group was chosen as the majority of marriages in Ireland (93 per cent) are between people aged under 40.
The results showed that, as of April 2011, 23.3 per cent of men and 19.4 per cent of women in this age group were single.
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How can more women be divorced than men? Shouldn’t the number be equal seeing as the woman will be divorcing a man? Unless you mean they’re divorced and haven’t remarried yet…
Perhaps men are more likely to leave the country after divorce. Or get gender readjustment operations.
It says in the article men are more likely to remarry, hence their relationship status is no longer considered to be divorced.
Or the men just ticked the “single” box
Or more men died…
Well there is a hint never grt hitched
Interesting discrepancy between Limerick city & county re the marriage breakdown %
Why get married anyway…is just a piece of paper…
Mensah… The piece of paper makes a difference when you encounter some fairly serious things in life. Like having to give consent for medical procedures for your partner. Inheritance if someone dies, or simple things like access to bank accounts on the partners incapacitation (brain damage or something). Tax if one of you loses a job.
I could have been one of those getting separated and divorced last year, as I have been very close to those situations in recent years, since my husband lost his job in 2009, due to financial pressures, and we may in future be another statistic yet, as our woes are not over, as we both may not have good job prospects. It is ridiculous that you have to be five years separated to get a divorce in this country, and wish that we could let go of our hold of the roman catholic church which hasn’t exactly been good news lately with all the abuse that happened within it’s institution. I think that people should live together for a very long time, before they make that big commitment, so to get to know the other person, and the woman should be allowed to keep her maiden name when she gets married, there are too many controlling men hence domestic violence, which is ignored by the authorities, and I was listening to liveline talking about this subjects and how women feel that they have to stay in a volatile relationship, because the law says that they have to be separated for five years before they divorce, so they can’t really get on with their lives after leaving their partner.
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