Dating website for love cheats has been used by 23,000 in NI
MARITAL infidelity appears to be rife throughout Northern Ireland, with nearly 40 unfaithful spouses here signing up every week to a dating site for love cheats.
More than 23,000 Northern Irish residents have used global extra-marital affairs service Ashley Madison since its launch in 2010, including nearly 2,000 since the start of this year.
The site — whose motto is ‘Life is short, have an affair’ — hit the headlines in 2015 after a massive data leak.
But its chiefs insist the hacking setback has not dented the demand for the service, with total global sign-ups soaring to 65million, according to the company’s latest figures.
Following a tightening of the website’s security, adultery seekers appear to be flocking to the secretive service in greater numbers than ever before — with the US leading the way with over 25m users and the UK the highest in Europe with 2.4m.
Newly-released figures from the service also rank Ireland as the eighth largest European market.
However, Ireland, as the smallest nation in the table in terms of population, has a higher per capita ratio than bigger countries such as the UK, Spain, Italy, France and Germany.
Further scrutiny of the Northern Ireland-based figures reveals that just under 56% of members are from Belfast, while over 70% of sign-ups are aged between 18 and 40.
The platform, which is free for female users, attracts slightly more men than women, while the average marriage age for men is 34.7, and the women’s average is 32.7.
Christoph Kraemer, managing director of Ashley Madison’s European operation, said he was anticipating a further spike in numbers from Northern Ireland.
He said: “November and December are usually below our monthly average for sign-ups, while January is one of our peak months.
“That’s because couples who aren’t getting on will tend to put up with each other over Christmas, but once the festive season is over, they’ve had enough and are keen to have some fun outside their marriage.”