Are we really having less sex?
Are we really having less sex?

Kate Demolder

Real Weddings: Iseult and Michael tie the knot in Smock Alley Theatre
Real Weddings: Iseult and Michael tie the knot in Smock Alley Theatre

Shayna Sappington

How to quit social media comparison for good
How to quit social media comparison for good

Niamh Ennis

Weekend Guide: 12 of the best events happening around Ireland
Weekend Guide: 12 of the best events happening around Ireland

Sarah Gill

How to handle the co-worker who brings everyone down
How to handle the co-worker who brings everyone down

Victoria Stokes

Majken Bech Bailey on her life in food
Majken Bech Bailey on her life in food

Holly O'Neill

A new Netflix series about the Guinness family is in the works
A new Netflix series about the Guinness family is in the works

Sarah Finnan

Why the music of Sinéad O’Connor will stay with us forever
Why the music of Sinéad O’Connor will stay with us forever

Jan Brierton

My Life in Culture: Artist Jess Kelly
My Life in Culture: Artist Jess Kelly

Sarah Finnan

This enchanting home on Lough Derg is on the market for €950,000
This enchanting home on Lough Derg is on the market for €950,000

Sarah Finnan

Image / Agenda
premium
AGENDA

How much will choosing to be single in Ireland cost you?


by Kate Demolder
05th Jan 2022

Unsplash, Caleb George

Being single in Ireland will cost you

Choosing to be single in Ireland will cost you - taxes, infrastructure, rent, unattainable mortgages and social stigma. The continued moralising of marriage as an institution, and the accompanying degradation of single life, not only affects a huge proportion of the population but is out of touch with this country’s cultural reality.

Jamie*, 38, has never felt pitied by couples when he tells them he’s single. It intrigues most, yes, but he’s comfortable in himself – caring less and less what people think as he gets older – and doesn’t find any stigma living as a bachelor in Ireland. But the lack of opportunity to meet people is awful, he said, “and I’ve felt this before Covid”. “We don’t do the random public approaches,” he shares, “like say the...

You have reached a premium article.

For unlimited digital access to the stories worth paying for, subscribe now to IMAGE from just €4.99 a month
Subscribe