Figures show Waterford has the highest number of unmarried parents

The majority of babies born in the first three months of 2018 in Waterford were to unmarried parents.

According to the Central Statistics Office, nearly 58 per cent of births in the City were registered to parents outside wedlock or civil partnership.

That compares to a national average of 38 per cent - with Dun Laoighre Rathdown coming in the lowest at just 23.4 per cent.

Altogether there were 800 fewer newborns nationwide in the first quarter of this year compared to 2017.