As a record number of young Irish female college students sign up to ‘Sugar Daddy’ dating services, we take a closer look at just how these so-called ‘arrangements’ work.

If latest survey is to be believed, 10,000 students across universities and colleges in Ireland registered as ‘Sugar Babies’ on website, SeekingArrangement.com.

Meanwhile, 8,000 men in Ireland signed up to the online forum to be ‘Sugar Daddies’.

According to Seeking Arrangement, Ireland is a rapidly growing market for the site.

Mother-of-one, Siobhan, who did not want to use her last name, spoke to EVOKE.ie to offer an intimate account of her experience as a ‘Sugar Baby’ in Dublin.

At first glance, Siobhan is exactly what you would expect of a so-called ‘Sugar Baby’–young, blonde and pretty, well endowed in all the right places.

Her manner is easy-going and carefree, exuding a likable ‘girl-next-door’ quality.

But take a closer look and you’ll find her story is not as predictable as you might think.

Siobhan said while the thought of such an arrangement may seem strange, impersonal or even repulsive to some, to others it is an ideal relationship.

Unlike other Sugar Babies, Siobhan was not a cash-strapped college student looking for someone to finance her college lifestyle.

She joined the site five years ago as a 23-year-old young mother.

She had just-ended a long-term relationship and had a toddler, a two-year-old boy, depending on her.

Her ex-boyfriend wasn’t much of a provider she says.

‘I was sick of immature guys who depended on you, that you had to take care of,’ she says. ‘I wanted to be looked after for a change, I wanted someone responsible and dependable.’

After trying to meet men through the ‘normal’ channels–through friends, at bars and even ‘regular’ online dating–she stumbled upon a website matching young women with older, wealthy suitors.

Siobhan set up her profile with a smiling image of herself, carrying the description ‘blonde, 5 foot 7 and athletic build’.

Before long the matches started coming in.

Her first ever Sugar Daddy relationship was with David, a 49-year-old Irish IT executive.

They met for their first in a south Dublin bar for drinks and hit it off immediately.

‘He was a really great guy and very successful. He was looking for someone to take to events and formal dinners and to do lunches on a Sunday afternoon,’ she says.

They dated for six months but the relationship ended when David had to move away, although they still keep in touch now.

After David, Siobhan started dating through the website once again but it would be another year or so before her next long-term relationship.

During that period she went on several single dates with guys she just didn’t ‘click’ with, she says.

‘Everyone thinks it is this prostitution ring where you’re forced into doing things for money, it really isn’t like that at all. You don’t have to do anything with anyone,’ she says.

While that was the way Siobhan and many of her dates approached it, some guys did have the wrong idea she admits.

‘One guy I met asked whether he should book a suite at the hotel we were drinking in so we could get straight to it,’ she says.

‘He told me if I wanted to start something with him he’d set up a bank transfer then and there, depositing €600 into my account each week.

‘I wasn’t into him and I didn’t like the way he approached things so I declined.’

Siobhan said while she heard of other Sugar Babies receiving Christian Louboutin shoes or Prada handbags, the gifts she received from her suitors were more ‘personal and practical.’

David, her first Sugar Daddy, gave her a brand new Mac laptop the day after she mentioned in passing that her old computer had crashed.

Her second long-term relationship, John a Danish expat working in the fiance industry in Dublin, paid for a solicitor for her when she was going through a lengthy custody battle.

‘Both these things were things I needed and could not afford on my own. Both times in my life I was stressed out and thinking how I would pay for these things when these guys just stepped in and took the burden off me,’ she explains.

‘I didn’t ask them for anything, they just recognised these issues in my life and sought to fix them–in that way I feel like they weren’t just ‘gifts’ but their way of emotionally supporting me.’

Asked about the more ‘extravagant’ gifts she has received, Siobhan admitted to being wined and dined at Michelin star venues throughout Dublin.

She remembers fondly a memorable evening at the luxurious Chapter One restaurant and having designer dresses delivered to her door for functions.

She was also once whisked away on a 10-day holiday to Majorca by one of her Sugar Daddy boyfriends.

‘These were things as a single, young mother I just could not afford myself, that I would never be able to experience otherwise,’ she says.

But Siobhan, who is currently single, says her Sugar Daddy relationships meant a lot more to her than being looked after financially.

‘The guys I actually dated, they were my mentors. They were successful in their fields and I learnt a lot from them about business and success,’ she says.

‘For me the younger woman and older man combination will always be the perfect recipe for a relationship–women and men are different at different stages in their lives and this combination, I think, gives you the best chance at having a lasting relationship.’