40% of women over 35 in Ireland are single.

So for accuracy stats should include?
a) cohabiting
b) divorced/separated
c) lesbian
d) widowed
e) unhappily married with big mortgages and kids.

Here is an actual quote seriously written by an Irish man to a woman about what he really wants to say (but doesn't due to not wanting to shoot himself in the foot) when meeting/dating someone. Charming :) To the 40% maybe it is better to be single?

"Can I call you? This is because I fancy you and would like to have sex with you, maybe not on the first date, but as soon as possible thereafter. I am not looking for a serious relationship, by which I mean, I have enough of my own problems, and don’t want to share yours. My longest relationship so far is 6 months, but I am only 49, so there is plenty of time yet."
 
PM1234,

Snap, that is exactly the attitude a lot of men seem to have. My ex boyfriend was exactly like that. In fact I had to leave him after 2 yrs, because he was still only meeting twice a week & did not want to progress to living together/getting married.

In fact my now husband had the attitude that 'there's plenty of time for getting married, even though he was 35 when I met him'. I had to make it clear to him that I am prepared to move on if the relationship doesn't progress within a year or two. I believe that if two people are serious about each other, then the relationship will progress. They should either make a commitment or split up.

I know people (esp. the female half of couples) can laugh at a person who is 'actively on the look out' for a special someone. When people are single in late 20s and in their 30s, they have to act like they 'don't care' about meeting someone.

Somebody said on this thread that a lot of women who remain single from 35 up, are happy and don't want a relationship. I would think that women who are single in their 30s want to give the impression that they are independent & don't care, as they are afraid of being laughed at if they admit to wanting a close relationship.

Then when the female of mid 30s finally gets into a serious relationship, other females as them 'when are they going to start a family, don't put career before children etc etc. It is like as if people think that the female of mid 30s actually 'chose' to be single and 'working all hours to pay the full household bills' rather than be in a couple where you have companionship & it is easier to run a house on 2 incomes.

In fact, an acquaintance was going on & on about me not leaving it too late to have kids etc. I had to come right out and tell her that I would prefer to have got married at 27 or 28, and that I would prefer to have children right now. I had to spell it out to her that I did not 'choose' to be completely single until I was nearly 31, and to get married at nearly 34. Also I had to tell her that I would have preferred to have bought a house as part of a couple when I was 28, instead of buying a house alone & having to take in a stranger as a lodger.

Of course it is better to be completely single than to be in a bad relationship. A lot of the annoyance comes from the attitude of some people who got married/living together at the 'right age' and can't understand someone being single in their 30s. In fact some of these people hint that someone of 30s is 'too old' to go to pubs/nightclubs. I think that some people who settled down at the right age should have more of a 'live & let live' attitude. I know most people would like a close relationship, but that may just not work out for everyone & people who are single have to make the best of things & be positive.
 
My female friends are between about 24 and 35 and none of them are married. Only one or two have boyfriends and the rest find it impossible to meet men so I'm not surprised at the statistic.
 
buzybee said:
A lot of the annoyance comes from the attitude of some people who got married/living together at the 'right age' and can't understand someone being single in their 30s.
Click to expand...
If all those who got married at the right age, are so thrilled with their lot why do they feel its ok to ridicule those who are paving their own life path?
 
buzybee said:
It is like as if people think that the female of mid 30s actually 'chose' to be single and 'working all hours to pay the full household bills' rather than be in a couple where you have companionship & it is easier to run a house on 2 incomes.

....I had to come right out and tell her that I would prefer to have got married at 27 or 28, and that I would prefer to have children right now. I had to spell it out to her that I did not 'choose' to be completely single until I was nearly 31, and to get married at nearly 34. Also I had to tell her that I would have preferred to have bought a house as part of a couple when I was 28, instead of buying a house alone & having to take in a stranger as a lodger.
Click to expand...

Well said! Its as if just because you are in a long term relationship people assume that you arent married because you dont want to be. There are two people in a relationship and it takes both of you to agree to marraige. I used to get so much hassle from people asking "do you not want to get married, why dont you just go and do it!".....like I could just make it happen on my own whether or not my other half wanted to or not. Same thing with having a baby. :mad:
 
Out of six people in our office - 2 male and four female

Male 60 - Single, no partner
Male 32 - cohabiting
Female 50 - single no partner
Female 43 - single no partner
Female 37 - (ME!!!!) single no partner
Female 26 - single no partner

So out of six, only one has a partner.

We even went speed dating from the office - but the blokes were a complete disaster.

We say we are a complete disfunctional office and you have to be disfunctional to join.

A few of us though were in long term relationships which broke down and are finding it hard to get back out there since times have changed since my dancing days of the 80's.

Maybe we should start askaboutdating?
 
MandaC said:
Male 60 - Single, no partner
Male 32 - cohabiting
Female 50 - single no partner
Female 43 - single no partner
Female 37 - (ME!!!!) single no partner
Female 26 - single no partner
Click to expand...


Sounds like a very interesting mix if you ask me - there must be a sitcom in there somewhere. ;)
 
A while ago, I was in Galway doing a bit of shopping.
Being the happy chatty guy I am, I was soon blethering away to the extremely attractive & very pleasant natured assistant who I'd guess was late 20's/early 30's.
As often happens, she got onto the " I love your accent" & "how did you end up here?" stuff. Told her my usual shortened version & her response was along the lines of "oh, I wish I could meet someone like that"

Me - I find it very hard to believe you'd have any problems in that respect.

Her - Yeah, but it's so hard to meet someone you actually like. Most of the guys are just sleazeballs or complete idiots.

Not the only time I've heard such a scathing assessment of available men!
Add that to the guys who'll insist that if you're caught so much as glancing at a woman, you can expect a very frosty or disdainful look back - maybe it's no surprise there's so many singles.
People don't really like each other!
 
Nelly,

perhaps some of those who got married at the 'right' age, may feel threatened by people who are a bit more unconventional. They may feel a bit puzzled by people who e.g. are in their 30s, still live at home and seem quite satisfied. Some of those who got married at the 'right age' may have got married more for companionship, biological clock ticking 'afraid of being single & out there'. They may secretly envy the 'single' people for making unpopular choices 'i.e. waiting until they meet a special someone & not just settling down with anyone'.


I know of a girl who has a husband & 3 children. She got drunk one night & said that she only married her husband because she thought she couldn't get anyone better & she wanted a home & family!!
 
PM1234 said:
Here is an actual quote seriously written by an Irish man to a woman about what he really wants to say ..........
"Can I call you? This is because I fancy you and would like to have sex with you, maybe not on the first date, but as soon as possible thereafter. I am not looking for a serious relationship, by which I mean, I have enough of my own problems, and don’t want to share yours. My longest relationship so far is 6 months, but I am only 49, so there is plenty of time yet."
Click to expand...

eehh ..... I don't understand what the problem is what what he said....... please explain..........
 
I think you misread my post. This is what he wants to but doesn't say.

So women go out with him and think they are in a relationship. From the beginning this is not his intention. I know that people can argue that one person shouldn't jump to conclusions but I think its fair to say of both men and women that they reasonably assume in time when they get involved with someone that both people actually want a relationship and one half is not saying what they think the other wants to hear.

Anyway back to the stats!
 
The statistics are looking to be roughly true of my group of friends as well, we are all early to mid thirties. Out of 8 of us 4 are single. 3 are married, 1 co-habiting. The 3 who are married are all married to foreigners (incl. myself).
 
I know of a girl who has a husband & 3 children. She got drunk one night & said that she only married her husband because she thought she couldn't get anyone better & she wanted a home & family!![/quote]




Thats very sad , I pity all in that family
 
buzybee said:
Nelly,

I know of a girl who has a husband & 3 children. She got drunk one night & said that she only married her husband because she thought she couldn't get anyone better & she wanted a home & family!!
Click to expand...



Thats very sad , I pity all in that family
 
It used to be said that there were 5 single women in Dublin for every available man, mainly because the women joined the Civil Service/bank/hospitals and the men emigrated or stayed on the farm........but that was then. Anyone know how to find out the gender disparity nowadays?
 
So, according to Table 5, there is a total of c150k women aged 40-44, of whom c27k are single ie never married (but no indication of co-habitation). Still nowhere near 40%, but I'm not going to tot up the totals for all the over-35s.
Thanks for the link, gipimann!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top