7 top tips for surviving those first dates

First dates are tough, but much more so when broadcast on TV, as the lonely-hearts on First Dates Ireland are about to learn, says Michelle McBride

AN Irish version of First Dates — the Great British Bake-off of dating programmes — is about to debut on RTÉ. First Dates Ireland starts on Thursday, April 21, at 9.30pm, on RTÉ2

The programme pushes the cringe factor of its ancestor, Blind Date, to a new level.