CIVIL UNIONS FALL BY 25%; Weddings and divorce also down.

Byline: IAN GRAHAM 

CIVIL partnerships seem to be losing their appeal in Northern Ireland's gay community, it emerged yesterday.

A drop of almost 25% in the number of civil partnerships was registered last year, according to figures released by Stormont.

The Civil Partnership Act came into force during December 2005 and by the end of the year 12 same- sex couples had rushed to make their union official.

The following year there were 116 partnerships registered, that dropped to 111 in 2007 and was down to 86 last year.

And figures from the Department of Finance and Personnel revealed 20 of the partnerships involved couples where neither was a resident of Northern Ireland.

The total was evenly divided between the sexes , 43 male and 43 female, with the average age of male partners just over 40 and females just under 38.

And 71 of the partnerships were between people who up to then had been single but in 15 cases - seven male and eight female, at least one of the partners had previously been married.

And the number of marriages registered last year was down two per cent on the previous year to 8,510.

The churches were holding their own, with 6,039 being religious marriages with the balance of 2,471 civil ceremonies.

The average age of those getting married has increased markedly over the past two decades.

Brides are waiting until they are 31 and grooms 33 compared to 25 and 27 back in 1988.

are The number of divorces last year dropped 5 per cent to 2,773 from its record high in 2007.

The average length of a marriage ending in divorce was 17.6 years.

86 the number of partnerships that were registered last year compared to 116 in 2007

31 the average age of the bride has risen from 25 in 1988. Grooms on average 33