Dublin’s anti-Valentine’s Valentine’s night party

Hear about the ‘anti-Valentines’ party in Dublin on Valentine’s night? For beer and single girls, it sounds like the place to be...

We caught up with organiser Brendan Courtney – yer man off the telly, he’s on Off The Rails and the like – recently. Brendan is the man behind “All The Single People” party at Dublin’s Cafe en Seine on Tuesday  (that’s Valentine’s night if you weren’t aware), and he’s looking for lads and ladies to head along. For the bitta craic, like.

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JOE: Right, Brendan, good to meet you. So what's this 'All The Single People' lark we've been hearing so much about?

Brendan Courtney: Well, it’s an anti-Valentine’s party. Or that’s what I’m calling it anyway.  When it comes to Valentine’s night, a lot of people, particularly women I suppose, can sometimes feel a bit crap about themselves.

The essence of the whole night, which starts in Cafe en Seine at 8 o’clock, is that it’s two fingers to Valentine’s Day. So we’re saying anyone who’s single, or if you’re a couple and you want to bring your single friend out for the craic, then come along for a great alternative Valentine’s night out.

JOE: We hear there are some pretty substantial figures involved (and we’re not talking outsized hips here)?

BC: There are 308,000 single men in Ireland between the ages of 25 and 39, and there are 259,000 single women in that age-group. That’s well over half a million single people in Ireland over 25 and under 39. That’s a lot of people who are either not interested, or they’re doing something wrong.

So we’re looking to facilitate a small percentage of those people on February 14. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster, priced at €20 or three for the price of two – so if you’re a couple you can treat your single mate to a night out and you don’t have to pay for them!

Ultimately, it’s just an alternative Valentine’s night. Given the current climate, people have enough things to feel crap about, and they don’t have to feel crap about being single, so come down for a bit of craic. The girls get a glass of champagne on arrival and the lads get a beer.

JOE: And there are some games involved? Now we’ve all seen ‘Take Me Out’, and we reckon that for 95 per cent of lads one of the worst places in the world is to be out there on that stage in front of not any 15 women, but those 15 women. You’re picking one poor unfortunate for something like that, right?

BC: No, this isn’t going to be like that at all. All this week on 98FM we've been looking for people to nominate their single mate. So we'll have five people, three girls and two blokes, who will be playing games on the night. The three girls and one of the lads will be playing Blind Date, and the other lad will play ‘Singled Out’ with a load of girls. But ‘Singled Out’ is the polar opposite to ‘Take Me Out’. There’s one guy, alright – but he’s picking the girl. Don’t get me wrong – ‘Take Me Out’ is absolutely compelling viewing, but this is different.

JOE: So what kind of dynamic are you expecting? A bit of a cavalry charge of single lads and single girls, or something a bit more, eh, reserved?

BC: We all know the truth of the matter is that in general, blokes are less bothered by being single. They’re less worried about it, they’re more predatory when they go out and only think about it when they want to think about it. For women, on the other hand, it’s a bigger plan. They’ll probably buy tickets in advance of the event, think about what they’re going to wear, etc. So it’s two completely different mindsets.

And the venue, Cafe en Seine, is brilliant. It fits the tone well. It’s a bit fun and a bit aspirational, so you’ll get a little bit dressed up for it, but it’s not Krystle. It also has twists and turns and corners and nooks and crannies. You can skulk in quietly and watch for a while before you dip your toe.

JOE: Dipping your toe? Sounds good to us.

Tickets for "All the Single People" at Cafe en Seine on February 14 are priced at €20 or three for the price of two. You can pick them up at Ticketmaster.