JOE goes dating with Intro.ie: The first date

Our intrepid JOE dips his toe into the world of online dating with a difference, with help from the good folks at Intro.ie

If I thought I was nervous meeting Rena at the Intro.ie offices, you could have dialled that up by ten when the night came to meet Catherine, who had been pretty much a perfect match on paper.

The date was set up for Fallon & Byrne, and everything was taken care of on that end by the guys at Intro.ie. All I had to do was arrive and ask for the table, which was booked under Patrick, and Catherine was already at the table waiting for me.

Straight away I was attracted to her, she was stunning and exactly what I was hoping for. That didn't do anything to help how nervous I was though, and it was a bit of a blessing to be able to hide behind the menu for a little while as I tried to make my decision on what I was going to get.

The staff were really polite, and very helpful, and the tables had been set up far enough away from the next one over so that we couldn't be overheard as we tried to get the conversation flowing. There was also enough of an atmosphere there to fill in the gaps, so there weren't really any awkward silences, which was pretty surprising and very different to any other blind dates I'd been on.

The whole experience was really enjoyable, the meal was great and Catherine was the perfect dinner companion, but for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, there was no spark between us.

She was really attractive, we had a great time, and even though she pretty much ticked all the boxes that I'd initially discussed with Rena in the office, we just didn't click and I don't think I'd go on another date with her.

The guys from Intro.ie called me again the next day to see how I got on, and I told them basically the same thing: it was the perfect match on paper and I couldn't fault Catherine at all, but it just didn't work in person.

No panic though, they've been through this all before so they said they'd get back to me with my next match as soon as possible, and I'll keep you updated with how I get on.

Names have been changed to protect identities

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