The ‘Coppers effect’ – gardaí are more likely to marry nurses

THE cliché may be true after all – male gardaí are more likely to wed nurses than any other profession, according to the latest Central Statistics Office figures.

In an echo of the so-called Copper Face Jack’s effect, some

15pc of male gardaí marry nurses, followed by other gardaí

(10pc) and primary or nursery teachers (8pc).

Meanwhile, 49pc of women gardaí marry other gardaí, followed by farmers (4pc) and large goods vehicle drivers

(2pc).

Most people tend to marry someone from their own profession. Some 80pc of female farmers marry other farmers, another 62pc of women publicans stick to their own, and

58pc of female taxi drivers are wedded to the men in their profession. The findings are part of the report ‘Who Marries Whom? – An Occupational Hazard’ based on the Census 2016.

The report does not include data on civil same-sex partnerships and same-sex marriages, because the analysis could not be carried out due to “relatively smaller numbers”.

It is no surprise that women farmers marrying their male counterparts was very common, as farmers were the largest single male occupation in the country at 32,673 at the time of the last census. The next most common male occupation was lorry drivers (11,411), who most commonly marry sales assistants. The most common female occupation was nurses and midwives (38,518), who tend to marry farmers (11pc).

SOMETIMES clichés are true – male gardaí do go on to marry nurses, suggesting the ‘Coppers’ effect rings true.

But the chances of you marrying someone from your own profession is not just confined to law enforcers, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) says.

Some 80pc of female farmers marry other farmers, another 62pc of women publicans stick to their own, and 58pc of female taxi drivers are wedded to their men in their profession.

And male workers are also inclined to wed those working in similar occupations.

The CSO said 57pc of nursery workers marry others in their profession, 55pc of male midwives and nurses find love in the workplace, while 39pc of male florists marry their female counterparts.

And returning to the Copper Face Jacks cliché, it does hold true – to a point.

While male gardaí marry nurses (15pc), followed by other gardaí (10pc) and primary or nursery teachers (8pc), their female colleagues do not.

Some 49pc of women gardaí marry other gardaí, followed by farmers (4pc) and large goods vehicles drivers (2pc).

The ‘Who Marries Whom? – An Occupational Hazard’ report is based on the results from Census 2016.

It does not include data on civil same-sex partnerships and same-sex marriages, because the analysis could not be carried out due to “relatively smaller numbers”.

It notes that “familiarity brings romance” rather than contempt.

However, it does not address the question as to what married couples with the same professional background talk about after work. “We have all heard anecdotally how people often marry within their own occupation, and with the wedding season upon us, we looked through the Census 2016 data to spot the trends,” the report says.

“Generally, people are most likely to get married within their own occupation.

“However, the analysis indicated that people are also likely to marry people in other occupations that they work closely with, or where they may share similar working hours.”

The report says it is no surprise that women farmers marrying their male counterparts was very common, as farmers were the largest single male occupation in the country at

32,673 at the time of the last Census.

The next most common male occupation was lorry drivers

(11,411), who most commonly marry sales and retail assistants; managers and directors in manufacturing, who choose nurses and midwives, and carpenters and joiners who also favour nurses.

Males farmers are most likely to marry nurses (13pc), farmers

(12pc) and primary teachers

(7pc).

Some 9pc of male accountants marry within their profession, and while 39pc of male florists marry female florists, the numbers can be skewed due to the low numbers employed in certain occupations, with just

36 married male florists in the

2016 Census.

The most common female occupation was nurses and midwives (38,518), who tend to marry farmers (11pc), followed by sales and retail assistants, who most commonly marry other sales and retail assistants

(4.5pc), and ‘other administrative occupations’ who also marry farmers.