Forty two years after its inception the Knock Introductions Marriage Bureau is still proving incredibly popular with Galway singletons hoping to find their perfect match.
Overall Galway and Mayo people have been the biggest users of the service since it began.
Of the applications made to the Bureau between spring last year and July of this year the highest came from Galwegians, with 19 per cent.
Mayo was next with 13 per cent, while the bureau also proved popular in Dublin with 11 per cent of applications coming from the capital city.
The Knock Introductions Marriage Bureau has been responsible for 883 marriages over the past 42 years, 102 Galway men and 87 Galway women have successfully found a life partner through the initiative.
Director Canon Joseph Cooney said that younger people in their thirties are now the main users of the service, with 63 per cent of applications between spring 2009 and July 2010 coming from people aged between 31 and 44. Despite the growing number of dating agencies and internet dating opportunities online, the service in Knock is seen as being the most attractive to many because people get to know something about their prospective partner before they meet.
Potential couples are evaluated on personality, education, and interests and introduced accordingly. More than 17,000 couples have been introduced since the marriage bureau was founded in 1968.
The service is completely confidential and in recent years applications have been made from as far away as Britain, the US and mainland Europe. The bureau charges €150 to join and application forms can be found from their website, www.knockmarriagebureau.com
