SMALL PRINT:The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival begins today in Co Clare. Willie Daly, one of the last remaining matchmakers in the county, shares his personal views on modern love, formed over four decades in the business

The new matchmaking

“A newfound independence arrived into matchmaking in the last 15 years, stemming from people in very comfortable situations. It gave women a lot of confidence to look for what might have been absent in marriages before, where the emphasis was on a house and a man being financially secure. In the last year and half, we seem be getting back to where romance was originally.”

American ladies and quiet men

“With many American women, they first married their childhood sweetheart. It might have been rosy for x amount of time. In their second marriage it might have been one of his friends. If there was a third, they might be financially secure, but a certain amount of hurt would exist. They come to Ireland and fall in love with the landscape and character. They like men who don’t put emphasis on clothes and hair. They have money, so need someone to help them enjoy it. Most Irish men might go to America with them. When they come back, the hair is trimmed; they have new teeth and clothes. They even smell different.

Polish women and Irish men

“Relationships between Irish people and most Europeans don’t work. They are still in a hurry to be more successful, and most work very hard at making money; the Irish man has changed very little.With an awful lot of Europeans, they don’t drink that much and don’t get into the romantic frame of mind.”

Talking romance, Irish style

“It takes 10 or 11 pints to make a man feel romantic. Earlier in the night, there is a lot of shyness, But as the night goes on, there are an awful lot of proposals.”

The Matchmaking Festival runs in Lisdoonvarna until October 4