On 12 February, at the Shrine of Saint Valentine in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Whitefriar Street in the Archdiocese of Dublin, Bishop Denis Nulty, Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin and President of Accord CLG, led the annual blessing of two engaged couples. These were:
One couple was Louise O’Reilly and David Lovett, who had their first date at ‘The Exchequer’, near Grafton Street, Dublin, on 17 February 2011, they have been inseparable ever since and will celebrate fourteen wonderful years together this month and plan to get married in 2026. Both from Dublin, the couple live in the Saint Brigid’s parish of Castleknock, where they recently welcomed their new-born daughter, Lexi.
The second couple was Margaret Gleeson and Jimmy Moynihan first connected through the Ireland’s Own magazine as penfriends. Both widowed, they found love and are planning to marry on 22 May. Hailing from Dublin, they are both members of the parish of Saint Alphonsus and Columba, Ballybrack, in the Archdiocese.
Accord research on marriage, family and housing
In the context of the continuing decline in “the crude marriage rate” reported by the Central Statistics Office, and the ongoing housing crisis, Accord, the Catholic marriage care service, commissioned Amárach Research to undertake a survey to determine the level of correlation between couples deciding to marry and have children, and the availability of housing supply.
According to Tony Shanahan, Director of Accord CLG, “the survey’s headline results are significant and striking” as they report:
- 84% of adults in Ireland say that the housing crisis is causing some couples to delay getting married and/or have children: this rises to 89% of women (79% of men);
- 54% of those aged 25-34 years plan to get married and/or have children;
- 48% of couples planning to get married would have married before now if it wasn’t for the housing situation (33% would have married in the past three years but didn’t); and,
- 60% of couples planning to have children would have done so before now if it wasn’t for the housing situation (36% would have had a child in the past three years but didn’t).
Mr Shanahan continued, “On behalf of Accord, I wish to warmly congratulate Louise and David, and Margaret and Jimmy, and all couples, on their forthcoming marriages.
“Today Accord publishes an Amárach survey that reveals the extent to which the lack of housing supply is impacting on the decision-making of couples who wish to get married and have children. This has serious social implications now and into the future. Possible practical responses might include Government acting to streamline and simplify the planning process to amend housing regulations for older properties to bring vacant units back into use. The hope that young people hold for a married life together, and to start a family, needs to be underpinned by certainty in a functioning and affordable housing market. However, there is no single housing market. Different demographics have different needs, and public policy should incentivise development initiatives geared towards the provision of accommodation solutions appropriate to each demographic.”
Also released was the 2024 island-wide data for couples participating in Accord marriage preparation courses, which amounted to 5,194, compared to 7,281 couples in 2023.
Click here for more details, including the homily of Bishop Nulty, on the Accord commissioned survey and its services in support of marriage, and on the ministry of Saint Valentine.
ENDS
