Hugh Redmond is the founder of 2Connect, a matchmaking service in Dublin that has seen quite the uptake in recent years.
Hugh has been in the matchmaking game for almost 18 years now and currently has over 1,200 clients using his service. To date, he has helped people who would go on to get married and have children.
In today's dating scene which largely takes place online, Hugh considers making in-person connections as more important than ever before. Speaking to Dublin Live, Hugh explained how he sees online dating and apps as a "waste of time" and encourages people to make more of an effort to meet people in real life.
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He said: "There has been such a massive backlash against apps and online dating in the last year. Prior to Covid, I didn't do many events for the 24 to 34 age group. They would be in town and going to parties.
"Two and a half years later and that age group has just exploded for me."
Hugh said that the problem with online dating is that there is "no policing", leading singletons to waste their time with people they were never going to genuinely connect with.
He said: "You could well be connecting with someone thinking you have a rapport with, then find out later that they've been ghosted or they become weird. It's just a massive amount of wasted time for so many people."
He added: "I've never seen it so difficult for people to connect. Covid had a huge impact but I think technology has had a negative impact for a lot of people."
Hugh revealed that he deals with a lot of people who have confidence issues after spending time on dating apps, explaining that having a profile that gets few like "affects you".
He said: "It's tough for single people of all ages nowadays but there are ways to get around it. You have to think about how you can widen your circle and connect with people through your interests. There's a bit of creative thinking required for single people to improve their chances of finding a relationship."
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