13 couples find it hard to Knock it in 2010

GOD moves in mysterious ways and it seems to have worked in the case of 13 couples who have married as a result of meeting through the Knock Marriage Bureau this year.

Figures released by the Catholic dating agency, which has played a role in 883 marriages since its inception in 1968, show 415 couples met last year after the bureau suggested 680 introductions.

Perhaps surprisingly, the figures also show more than half of the 135 women who contacted the bureau last year have a third-level education, are working professionals and, in 20 cases, are from Dublin.