Dating agency matched woman with a man who had a violent criminal conviction

Speaking anonymously to the 'Irish Examiner' the woman said she gave the man her number as she felt intimidated by him. But when she got home, she Googled him and discovered his violent past. Picture: iStock

A woman who was set up by a dating agency on a date with a man with a conviction for a violent assault, says the lack of background checks by the agency is putting its clients in danger.

The Leinster woman is one of several who have raised concerns with the Irish Examiner about the Intro Matchmaking agency which is based in Dublin but has clients across the country.

Four people have told this newspaper that they paid more than €1,000 and signed a contract with the agency, which was to secure five introductions for the client following payment. However, none of them have had five introductions.

The Leinster woman, who has asked not to be identified, was introduced to four different men through the service, with the most recent being in May.

She said she gave the man her number because she felt intimidated by him. She decided to do a Google search for him when she got home, only to discover that he had a conviction for a violent incident in Dublin.

“I felt sick and I was scared because I had given him my number,” she said.

“I felt threatened by him.

“The lack of background checks is a concern for any woman. It could have been so much worse. I really don’t think that background checks are too much to ask.”

The woman said that if she could find out about the man’s conviction simply by doing a Google search, it should have been easy for the dating agency to establish whether he had a criminal record.

The contract she had signed with the company stipulated that by putting her signature on the document, she was accepting “you have not been convicted of any offence relating to violence and/or harassment and/or any other serious criminal offence including but not limited to sexual offences”, and “you are not subject to any ongoing criminal investigations in connection with any offence including but not limited to violence, harassment, sexual offences”.

Meanwhile, another woman who spoke to the Irish Examiner said she has only received one introduction, despite signing up with the agency over a year ago and paying her full fee.

Fionnuala Bourke said: “I joined this time last year. I got one date at Christmas, but that was because I had to chase it up myself to actually get something.”

She did not hear any more until March, when she tried to contact the agency again. She says she has not had an introduction since.

Correspondence sent to clients who signed up last year, seen by the Irish Examiner, states: “Your membership is now active and we have begun the matching process. As you will know from your interview, you are guaranteed your five introductions over the course of approximately 12 months.

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“This is an average of an introduction every 10 weeks. At the moment we are experiencing some delays due to the pandemic.

“Unfortunately, this is out of our control but we will of course endeavour to deliver your introductions in as speedy a fashion as possible. Please do bear with us as we want to ensure you are getting suitable introductions, not just fast ones.”

Efforts have been made to contact Intro Matchmaking by phone and email for comment.