Girls' lunch is a “sacred” event that no boyfriends should be allowed to attend.

That’s according to Rollercoaster.ie editor Sarah-Jayne Tobin, who says it’s “so annoying” when the significant other of a friend tags along.

It comes as UK journalist Kate Lister said this week that women who bring their husbands to girls' lunch should be “arrested immediately,” adding that it is “incredibly disrespectful” to others.

On Lunchtime Live today, Ms Tobin said girls should be allowed to vent to one another peacefully.

“It’s when we talk about our relationships, our financial worries, emotional worries, hormones, body shape concerns – everything,” she said.

“That’s what we do, and you don’t want a partner there who, let’s be fair, nine times out of ten is only your friend because they’re seeing one of the girls.

“I have friends who are with their husbands 20 years and I’m mad about them, lovely fellas, but I would not be telling them anything that I’d be talking about in front of the girls – they wouldn’t want to hear it either.”

Red flag

Irish Times podcast producer Aideen Finnegan thinks it’s a “red flag” if partners are always tagging along.

“I would think there’s something going on there, some sort of controlling behaviour,” she said.

“If it were happening with a friend of mine, I would be having that chat with her.

“In terms of being an egregious social faux pas, it is right up there with killing your friend’s cat because it’s just too much.”

A man with a group of women on a beach. Image: Jan Schneckenhaus / Alamy Stock Photo

Geek Ireland editor Olivia Fahy said terms should be set out in advance of a girls' night out or lunch if needs be.

“When you're making the plans, make it clear from the outset that it’s just one-on-one or it’s girls only,” she said.

“Maybe the lads could have their own thing, they could have one table and the girls another.

“At least there would be that degree of separation and they’re not sitting at the same table trying to interject with their own stories when you want to have a conversation.”

Girls conversations

Sunday Mirror columnist Siobhan O'Connor said her conversations with friends wouldn’t interest their partners.

“I think now in my 40s, the girls are talking about topics that definitely wouldn’t interest the men,” she said.

“We're never talking about the men; we have other things to talk about and we’re not sitting there having a bitch and moan about our fellas.

“It's more now we've other things to talk about, like the perimenopause and the menopause.”

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Main image: A boyfriend is brought along to girls night. Image: Antonio Guillem Fernández / Alamy Stock Photo