Marriage increase in Northern Ireland

Latest figures have revealed that there has been an increase in the number of marriages in Northern Ireland.

The number for 2006 was just 8,300, a small increase on the 8,100 marriages registered in 2005, the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) said.

This is a significant increase on the recent low of 7,300 registered in 2001.

Since the introduction of new marriage laws in 2004 there has been an increase in the number of religious ceremonies taking place outside religious buildings and civil marriages taking place outside Registrar’s Office. Almost 5% of religious marriages took place outside religious buildings and over one-third of civil marriages took place outside Registrar’s Offices.

There were also just under 2,600 divorces registered in the Province in 2006, which was the highest annual number ever recorded. Of couples married in the mid-1980s it is estimated just over one in six were divorced by their twentieth wedding anniversary.

A NISRA spokesperson said: “Just under 8,300 marriages were registered last year up on the 2001 low of 7,300 marriages, while the latest figures on divorce show a record number of divorces recorded in 2006. In the first full year since the Civil Partnership Act came into force 116 civil partnerships (65 male and 51 female) were registered.”

(JM)