John, a farmer/qualified carpenter, was the star of last night’s (Thursday, March 24th, 2022) episode of First Dates Ireland.
Ahead of the show, RTÉ2 described John as “a dab hand on the farm”, but now he is “choosing land over love” and is “focussing his attention on finding a woman”.
The singleton explained that the pull of work and farming commitments led him to put romance on the backburner in recent years.
He said: “I was in a relationship before. Like that, it was awkward. So, I was to either have a relationship or have the land. Like that, being the farmer’s son, I opted for the land, you know?”
“As time goes on, you kind of realise and say that look, the land will be there. And if you are happy, it does not matter where you have the land or not, you know?”
Producers matched the Galway native with a fellow Galwegian, Naomi a horse owner/rider, who hails from a farming background and desires a significant other who understands rural life or is a part-time farmer.
John told viewers “That between turf, silage, calving cows and lambing ewes, you cannot go out every Saturday night”.
The 33-year-old, who is also a director of a company, continued: “Girlfriends would be saying you have to make time for a woman and all this. Now, I feel it is time.”
“I would like someone that wouldn’t mind coming out giving me a hand to do some farming. You never know; she may have a bigger farm than I would.”
“People say you have so much land and money from the land. If you don’t put it into it, you won’t get it out of it. It is like a relationship – if you don’t put in the time, you are not going to have one.”
He told viewers: “I do not want to end up like a bachelor farmer, with people saying he has a heap of money.”
During the date, the pair discussed going to the same social venue in their younger days, travelling to New Zealand (his stint there as a tractor operator) and their association with a creamery in Kilconnell.
Did John find love on First Dates?
When asked by First Dates Ireland producers if she would like to meet John again, his date replied:
“John is a fabulous man; he is everything on paper of what I want in a dream man. He is a carpenter and a farmer, but I do not feel a chemical attraction or a spark.”
“I would definitely like to stay friends for sure,” she added.
John replied: “That is okay; I am a bit disappointed, but what can you do?”
“She doesn’t know what she missed out on,” he laughed.
 episode of First Dates Ireland.){kind=link}