There were almost 5,000 divorces and
judicial separations granted in Ireland in 2008 according to figures
released by the CSO today. This compares with 22,187 marriages in the
same year.

However, the actual marriage breakdown
rate is believed to be considerably higher than official figures
indicate because the official figures do not include couples who
separate and reach legal agreements which are not registered with the
court.

Nor do the figures include couples who
simply separate and never see a lawyer.

The number of Irish people who are
separated or divorced stood at 200,000 in 2006 according to census
data, up from 40,000 in 1986.

The new CSO figures also show that of
the 22,187 marriages that took place in 2008, almost 24 percent were
civil marriages. 

In 1996, the number of civil marriages
accounted for just 6 percent of the total. The CSO says the
introduction of divorce in 1997 is one factor that drove up the
number of couples opting for civil marriages as divorced people
generally don’t marry in church.

However, the figures show that in 2008,
over 250 people who were previously divorced married in Catholic
ceremonies.

The CSO figures also show that the
number of civil marriages has stabilised in the last few years.

While the introduction of divorce is
one reason why civil marriages are taking place, 60 percent involve
single men and single women who have never been married before.

Just under 80pc of first-time marriages
still take place in Catholic churches, while 3.7pc involves other
religions.

A total of 2,016 marriages involved at
least one person who was previously divorced.

The Irish marriage rate in 2008 stood
at 5.03 people per thousand compared with an EU average of 4.73.

The EU country with the lowest marriage
rate is Bulgaria at 3.64 and the country with the highest marriage
rate is Lithuania at 7.17.