Twice as many marriages as divorces in Ballymena

The findings are in the provisional 2011 marriage, divorce and civil partnership statistics released last week by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

A total of 8,400 marriages took place in Northern Ireland, whilst the number of divorces recorded was just over 2,300.

In the Ballymena area, a total of 392 marriages took place; almost half (49 per cent) were celebrated by a civil ceremony.

Dr David Marshall, NISRA, said: “The popularity of civil marriage continues to increase – 40 years ago one marriage in every 12 was by civil ceremony, today this stands at one marriage in every three. This reflects the changes in society over this period.”

Of the marriages which took place in the Ballymena area, 75 per cent of the marriages were between couples where neither partner had been previously married.

Fifty-seven per cent of the marriages were between couples living at the same address before marriage.

Nine per cent of marriages in the local area were between couples resident outside Northern Ireland.

The number of divorces recorded in the Ballymena area last year was 182.

Figures for the number of civil partnerships are recorded by health trust area. In the Northern Trust area, which Ballymena is part of, there were nine civil partnerships - three male civil partnerships, and six civil partnerships.