Love is in the air — but Limerick is lease romantic city

Over half of loved-up Irish people would buy a St Valentine’s gift for someone they’d just started seeing, while it seems poor old Limerick is our least romantic county.

While we might be a romantic bunch, we don’t like to go too crazy when it comes to splashing a bit of cash on a significant other.

According to a One4all poll, half of single people surveyed would spend under €50 on a Valentine’s gift, while 60% of those in a relationship said €50 is the right amount to spend.

If love is not in the air, a third of people said they would consider buying themselves a gift on Valentine’s Day. Eight out of 10 married people said they would definitely be buying a gift for their other half this Saturday.

On a slightly more embarrassing note, over a quarter of those polled admitted to having received a gift from a loved one on Valentine’s Day only to not have bought them a present in return.

When it comes to which celebrity we would most like to get a Valentine’s Card from, it’s perhaps no surprise that 50 Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan topped the poll, followed by Bressie and Chris O’Dowd in second place, and Rob Kearney in third.

For people with a little less cash in their wallet, there are always other options. Aldi and Lidl are bargain mines for groceries and offer the very same rock bottom prices for St Valentine’s Day treats.

For example, for just €2.49 at Lidl you can buy your loved one a “super large” single red rose, while €29.99 gets you as dozen. It’s a similar story in Aldi where a single red rose is just €1.99 and a “Grand Prix Rose Bouquet” is €29.99.

For the more risque folk, a night away in a fancy hotel under an assumed name is a more daring option.

According to Hotels.com, one in 10 Irish people like to give a fake name when checking in to a hotel, either for fun or they are up to no good. Of those who have used an alias, over a quarter (27%) said they did so because they thought it would be fun, 14% said an alias is easier to spell than their real name, and 4% said if it’s good enough for celebrities, it’s good enough for them. A further 27% admit to giving a fake name because they were checking in with someone they weren’t supposed to be with.

When it comes to making romantic reservations, 14% of people said they have booked a hotel room last minute using their mobile phone in anticipation of a romantic encounter.

According to the research, Limerick was named the least romantic county, followed closely by Leitrim, Longford and Dublin.