Always turned on: the negative impact technology has on relationships

Is turning on to technology making us switch off in our relationships, asks Sharon Ní Chonchúir.

AMAL Alamuddin steps out of a downtown New York Hotel on a bright spring day. With a power handbag dangling from one hand, she holds a smart phone in the other, ready to respond to the next text, email or call. With work as a human rights lawyer taking her around the world, the multi-tasking phone is no doubt a vital way of staying in touch with the office and her fiancé — globetrotting actor and human rights activist George Clooney.

A palm-sized piece of technology now allows us to be always on, always connected. But what happens when a loved-up couple sets up home together? Will they be content to switch off their phones and laptops and simply enjoy each other’s company?