Ireland may not have dedicated sex clubs or the fastest-growing swingers’ community – but ‘ethical non-monogamy’ is here to stay.
That's according to ‘Grey’, who was speaking to Lunchtime Live about Ireland's swinging community – where singles and partners in committed relationships engage sexually with others.
Grey has been a member of the swinging community since he was 19-years-old and has watched the swinging community grow and develop in the 19 years since.
"I had an older lady meet me in Copper Face Jacks one night and she took me under her wing," he said, "I was 19, she was 36 – it went from there.
"I'm a single male, I'm active in the scene."
The community
Grey said that in comparison to other European cities, Ireland has a small swinging community.
"I mean, if you think talk about the UK, it's quite massive in the UK," he said.
"There are many clubs and designated venues that you can go to in the UK to enjoy it – the same in Paris and Rome, Barcelona, all over Europe.
"We do have dedicated clubs, but there be more privately run [events] in private residences, so someone might hold a regular event, say once a month, maybe twice a month, but it would be in their private residence.
"There is anything from 18-years-old to, I mean, one of the oldest ladies I met was 75."
Young couple using phone sitting on sofa together at home (insta_photos / Alamy Stock Photo)Advertising
In the past, swinging was usually advertised by "posting flyers and notices to bathroom doors in known clubs."
"It's all online now, there are websites that the community are familiar with and would know," Grey told the show.
"The prominent one we currently use is called fabswingers.com. There's a couple in the UK who have set up a new app called Swinghub, and that's going to launch in summer."
Grey explained that single females in the community are known as 'unicorns', while a single male who meets couples is known as a 'pegasus'.
"A bisexual male who meets couples is called a 'dragon'," he said.
'Something missing'
Gemma, who has been with her husband for over 30 years, first joined the community with him seven years ago.
"You get quite immersed in it quite quickly if you're really open to it," she said.
"We never looked back and we started doing our own socials and we've eventually evolved into running parties and socials now."
Swingers at a dining table (Finnbarr Webster / Alamy Stock Photo)The social events often have up to 200 people in attendance, while Gemma's parties can have up to 100 people.
"It kind of grew arms and legs, we were missing something on the scene," she said.
"The community is getting bigger and bigger, every week nearly, even after all this time, we're still meeting new people.
"There's a whole influx of the younger generation coming through who are just more open-minded.
"The UK and Europe, they've always had these things open and it's all been out there and we're probably about 10 years behind them."
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