Marital trend reports - Prenuptial accords must be recognised

TWO reports on Irish marital trends, one issued yesterday and the other last month, illustrate fundamentally opposite faces of a rapidly changing society.

Putting the spotlight on how the population is being transformed, the second volume of Census 2006 profiles the key changes in our towns and cities. Besides showing that people between the ages of 25 and 44 are the fastest-growing section of society, it identifies Galway and Maynooth as the “singles” capitals of Ireland.

Undoubtedly, most interest will be focused on the finding of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) showing that marriage breakdown is on the increase. The number of divorced people in the State rose by a staggering 69.8% between 2002 and 2006, making divorce Ireland’s fastest-growing marital status category.

This flies in the face of a recent Irish survey reflecting a much rosier side of marriage. Involving more than 700 couples, it found the vast majority of those who tied the knot over a seven-year period were blissfully happy. Significantly, however, the survey portraying such a glowing image of marital bliss was carried out by ACCORD, a voluntary Catholic organisation which aims to promote a deeper understanding of Christian marriage.

Coincidentally, the increase in marriage breakdown, as reflected in the CSO census, parallels the unprecedented surge of material wealth and affluence generated in the heady days of the Celtic Tiger phenomenon.

There is no denying that, since divorce became legal in Ireland 10 years ago, the graph has risen steadily to the point where the number of divorced persons in the State is now 59,500.

When it was legalised, conditions were attached to divorce requiring couples intending to go down that road to go through a legal separation period of four years prior to breaking up completely. Inevitably, in the early days, the divorce figures were relatively low. Illustrating the growing trend that is now emerging, however, more than 24,400 people were divorced during the four-year census period, a rise of almost 70% from the 2002 figure of 35,100.

Doubtless, attempting to play down the statistical significance of such an increase, a spokesman for ACCORD stresses that the figures for Ireland do not compare with far higher rates of increase in divorce in Britain and America.

Nevertheless, the inexorable upward movement in the number of divorced persons, albeit from a relatively low base, suggests the trend can be expected to continue and possibly accelerate further.

Shedding more light on Ireland’s marital breakdown trends, a somewhat slower rise is reflected in the number of people going through separations, up from 98,800 to 107,300 over the same period, an increase of 8.6%.

According to the CSO study, Limerick City had the highest proportion of separated people (12.9%) during the four-year period, including those widowed at the time of the census. Dublin City came second highest (11.6%) whereas Co Galway (6.3%) had the lowest separation rate.

In tandem with a rising trend of one divorce for every six marriages, compared with one in every eight in 1999, there is growing demand for pre-nuptial agreements to be introduced here. Further proof, if it were needed, of Ireland’s new-found wealth, especially the value of property.

A recently published Government-commissioned report argued that such agreements would not dilute constitutional protection for the institution of marriage and the right to marry. Many people are looking to the next Oireachtas to change the Family Law (Divorce) Act in the hope that binding prenuptial agreements will soon be recognised in Ireland for the first time.