Ghosting, diversity, bill-splitting... five takeaways from First Dates, Season 9

First Dates Ireland is reaching the send of its latest season, so what have we learned from the daters over the past few months?

 Oriel and Gary on First Dates Ireland. 

1. If you don’t want to see them again, maybe don’t let them pay

Time and time again over the course of this show, we have seen potential couples fall foul of the bill-splitting. As Irish people with a generational trauma around letting people do nice things for us, allowing somebody to pay for a meal brings most of us out in a rash. Often the wounds of bill-paying are assauged by a simple: “sure you can get the next one,” and with that harmony is restored and the credit card is put away, despite all of us knowing that second date will most likely never materialise.