Has marriage gone out of fashion?

The 2006 census, released last week, revealed that marriage is actually on the rise. In the last four years, the number of marriages has increased by a respectable 7.6%, meaning walking up the aisle is decidedly in vogue.

What a pity, then, that divorce is so much more popular. Ten times more popular than marriage, to be precise. In the last four years, divorce rates have increased by a massive 70% from 35,000 in 2002 to 59,500 in 2006. In fact, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), divorce is the "fastest growing marital status." No irony intended, presumably.

Where are the figures coming from?

Limerick City has the highest divorce rate in Ireland (12.9% of the population), followed closely by Dublin city, which has a rate of 11.6%. The number of people describing themselves as separated has increased by an average of 3.2% every year since 1996. It would seem that the 10th anniversary of the divorce referendum is being celebrated with gusto.

Aren't we just playing catch-up?

When you think about it, there has surely been a serious backlog of divorces waiting to happen since its legalisation in 1997, as a separation must last five years before a divorce can be granted.

Could we not presume our high divorce rate is simply a temporary glut?

Apparently not. Divorce has been legal in Italy, for example, for 30 years, but that country has a divorce rate of just 3%, similar to other countries such as Spain and Greece . . . implying that legalisation does not have to mean a large increase in the practice.

Instead, according to David Quinn of the Iona Institute which is dedicated to strengthening marriage in Ireland, Irish divorce rates are fast approaching UK and US levels.

"Behind every marital breakdown figure, there is a lot of pain, a lot of anguish and a lot of tragedy, both for parents, children and indeed for the wider society, " Quinn told RTE radio during the week.

"While there might be good reasons why a particular couple divorce, nobody wants to live in a high-divorce culture."

So who has the highest divorce rate?

Currently, the US has the highest rate of divorce in the western world, with 50% of all marriages predicted to end in divorce.

This is followed by the UK and Canada.

According to Quinn, Ireland is currently at 60% of the US and UK levels, meaning that if the trend continues, there could be an extremely high rate of marriage breakdown in 20 years' time.

Where are the 2.4 children gone?

The traditional Irish family might not have consisted of the obligatory 2.4 children for quite some time, but in 1986 we were producing 2.2 children per family unit. That is now a thing of the past.

The 2006 census revealed that family sizes are continuing to shrink, with an average of just 1.4 children per family.

And one of the fastest growing family units is the couple who have no children at all. This type of household has increased by over 27% in the last four years, and by 130% since 1986.

With couples choosing to have children later, it is inevitable that the family size will shrink. There are now more 'only child' families in Ireland than ever before.

What does this mean?

With a population that is growing older by the day, the concern is that, within a couple of decades, we may have a generation of elderly people who will be dependant on the state for their care. For the moment, however, Ireland's population is still younger than most European countries.

Who needs marriage in the first place?

The census has shown that this is the age of the singleton. More and more people, either by choice or chance, are opting to stay single. According to latest figures, 27% of men and 22% of women between the ages of 35 and 44 have never been married.

By itself, this means little, but 85% of all marriages take place among couples who are both under the age of 35.

Another fast growing family unit is the unmarried couple. Couples opting to live and have children together out of marriage have risen by 50% in the last four years.

Could this be the way forward, when one considers the divorce rate?

Not so, according to Quinn. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Iona Institute cites research which shows that a couple who co-habit before marriage are twice as likely to divorce.

One can equally argue, however, that couples who abstain from living together before marriage are likely to be doing so for religious reasons, and if so, are less likely to opt for divorce when things get rough anyway.

Is this the death of the traditional Irish family?

In a way it is, and it has been happening for some time. The Irish family now comes in all shapes and varieties, with more single parents, unmarried parents, samesex parents and divorced parents than ever before.

Some of these developments have positive implications; others do not.

Divorce, namely, is something the vast majority of Irish people say they don't want to see rising unnecessarily. But because there is a lack of public information on the reasons people are divorcing, it is unclear how the issue should be addressed.

The referendum was brought in for a reason . . . people should not be trapped in unhappy or abusive marriages that are harming their children more than a separation would. But if the trends continue, it is not past the realm of imagination that we could have one of the highest divorce rates in the western world in 20 years' time.