There were 20,313 marriages in Ireland in 2019 including 640 same-sex marriages. This equates to a crude (unadjusted) marriage rate of 4.1 per 1,000 population – statistician Carol Anne Hennessy.

“The reprehensible sub-culture in our society which views all human life as expendable, including the lives of children, must be defeated” – Bishop Michael Router.

Since the new policy was introduced in February, more than 20 requests have been received to hold weddings at venues that were not parish churches and, so far, all requests have been approved.