Number of couples divorcing rises 2% to more than 3,400

MORE THAN 3,400 couples divorced last year, marking a slight increase on 2005.

Although it is a record number for divorces in a single year in the Republic, the figure represents an increase of less than 2% on the 2004 total.

It is only the second year that the annual total has exceeded 3,000 since divorce was legalised in 1997.