Disability activist Joanne O'Riordan gives honest reason why she would get married
Joanne joined Ryan Tubridy as his final guest on season two of his podcast, The Bookshelf.
Disability activist Joanne O’Riordan has opened up about her marriage plans – saying “love isn’t defined by a piece of paper”.
Joanne, who was born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder categorised by the absence of all four limbs, told Ryan Tubridy as his final guest on season two of his podcast, The Bookshelf, how she prefers to meet people away from dating apps.
She said she is a “traditional” dater but doesn’t like the idea of marriage, apart from the tax credits.
READ MORE: Irish disability rights campaigner Joanne O'Riordan graduates from University College Cork
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The 28-year-old described how she “likes non-app-based dating”.
She said: “I like human one-to-one meetings. You know, dating is fun and not fun. I’ve three older brothers so I’m very hardened in terms of, you know, how people behave and whatnot, I’ve seen all sides of that coin”.
Joanne said that “in terms of marriage, the tax credit would be nice... but love isn’t defined by a piece of paper”.
But she also spoke about how difficult it would be in Ireland for her to have a child.
She said: “There’s a lot of legal hurdles in this country in terms of not carrying your own child. I praise any couple that come out and speak, like Mark from Westlife and Brian and Arthur Dowling. If that changes, I might change my mind, but at the moment it’s probably a no for me,” she added.
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