In a new weekly feature, Her.ie goes behind enemy lines to see what it’s really like to be single in Ireland.
From speed dating to making speedy escapes, our no-holds-barred blog will follow one girl’s attempts to venture into the dating jungle, play the field and share any wisdom that she finds along the way!
Week Fourteen: Mind The Gap
Since I went on a little exasperated rant about Tinder in last week's post, a lot of you have been getting in touch with a few stories of encouragement so thanks for all the sweet emails, they give us a great giggle and put a smile on our faces. Keep them coming!
One particularly caught my eye as I recently had a discussion with a friend about the age boundaries that we abide by when dating. I have to confess that I am fond of the odd silver fox and don't really have an upper limit when it comes to dating. Now, I'm not saying that I'm hanging around nursing homes at the weekend looking for a sugar daddy but I'm pretty open minded if someone happens to be that bit older.
One of our readers, Laura, isn't quite as forgiving and sent us this tale of a recent Tinder date!
"So I went on my first tinder date after dealing with hell in the love life over the past while. He was older, grey hair, but there was no mobility scooter on his profile photo and well, they looked like his own teeth.
After a little friendly banter, I got enough info to do the traditional 'creep' on him. Turned out he was from the same parish as my friend's boyfriend and he filled us in on the details. We happily discovered that he was not a convicted criminal or secretly married. And, as a bonus, it turned out he hadn't lied yet. So he asked me for a coffee date. Now, I'm a tea drinker but I understand that older men like coffee so I went with it. I suppose they need more energy at that age.
Armed with my secret information on his mother's occupation, what car his father drives and a story on how his brother used to coach the under-eight hurling team, I sashayed off in my best wedges (having heard he was of suitable height and not a short arse) to meet him in Starbucks. The conversation flowed and I really felt at ease.
There was a kiss. An awkward one on a busy street. No fireworks but at the same time, it wasn't like kissing yer uncle so that was a plus. We were still enjoying banter-filled conversation and flirtation and duly progressed to a second date. However, things are getting boring since that. He is just not very good at being 'down with the kids' and I'm just not sure if I want to be planning a 40th birthday party for my man this time five years and me still a fresh young thing in her twenties."
As for me, I've been enjoying a nice and quiet break from the dating scene over the last few weeks as I'm firmly of the opinion than one should never go on a date for the sake of it. While some may think that being single is depressing and that we're all just dying to meet 'the one', the reality is that most of the unattached women I know are having quite a bit of fun sampling the goods and would rather stay playing the field than sitting in the stands.
If a dashing fella comes my way this week, there's no better woman to put him through his paces but in the meantime, I'm going to enjoy devoting my evenings to partying with the girls, dossing on the couch and weighing up the chances that Jamie Dornan is going to become single anytime soon.
We want to hear your dating stories! Email hello@her.ie or tweet us @Herdotie with the #shiftyfirstdates. 
