Nearly half of all first births in Ireland take place outside marriage, new figures have shown. 
According to data from the Central Statistics Office, published today, almost 44 per cent of births to first time mothers were outside wedlock.
In addition, twenty eight per cent of births to women having their second child were outside marriage, while this figure fell to 22 per cent for women having their third child.
The new figures also show that the average age of birth mothers continues to increase. In 1977, only 11.4 per cent of births were to women aged between 35-39. In 2007, 22.2 per cent of all births were to women in this age group.
Regionally, Limerick city had the highest percentage of children born outside marriage, at 54.4 pre cent. Cork city had the next highest percentage, with 49.6 per cent of all births there outside marriage.
Over 46 per cent of all births in Dublin city were out of wedlock, while 46.6 per cent of all births in Waterford were outside wedlock.
Galway county had the lowest percentage of births outside marriage, at 22.5 per cent.
The percentage of all births outside marriage was 33 per cent. This compares to 24 per cent between 1991 and 2000, 9.16 per cent between 1981 and 1990. Between 1951-1960, 1.97 per cent of children were born outside marriage.
Internationally, Ireland has a lower rate of births outside marriage than the UK, where the figure is 40.1 per cent. In the 15 EU Member States which joined before the Nice Treaty, 39.2 per cent of children are born out of wedlock, while in the post Nice accession countries, the average percentage is 43.6 per cent.
Responding to the figures, director of the Iona Institute David Quinn said that the figures “highlight the urgent need for the Government to begin strongly promoting marriage again if it is really interested in child welfare.”
He continued: “Study after study highlight the benefits of marriage, especially for children but also for adults. Ideally children should be raised by a loving mother and father and marriage provides the best chance of this taking place.
“There is much talk at present of children’s rights and what we need to do to promote the interests of children in Ireland. However, the State has done little or nothing in recent years to promote marriage which is the most pro-child of all social institutions. In addition, children’s rights groups never talk up the benefits of marriage, despite all the evidence in its favour. This is a very considerable oversight on their part.”