Her relationship has been in the papers, featured in magazines, she’s sat on a fair few TV sofas talking about her husband and has, of course, featured in the documentary shown on Sky Real Lives - Turkish Wives Club.
Why the fuss? Mainly because Eileen has done what an increasing number of women in the UK and Ireland are doing - she has married a man much younger than herself, and is having a ball. To be precise her second husband Ulas is 25 years younger. She met the factory worker while on holiday in Turkey. The couple now live in Sandyford and they visit Turkey twice a year to see his family.
“Ulas loves Sandyford, it’s a lovely place, very laid back and welcoming. Everyone here loves Turkish people”.
But what makes Eileen’s story so newsworthy is that she’s determined to help her friends and family also find love abroad – specifically in Turkey. Eileen says she has helped over 100 couples get together including one of her own three daughters, Noreen, who is now happily married to a Turkish man called Ali. The couple have a five-year-old daughter, Layla.
So how does she do it? Well according to Eileen it’s informally done by word of mouth – she introduces her friends to local Turkish friends who then introduce them to others. “When my daughter got married in Turkey, ten of her girlfriends came out to the wedding and while they were having a good time two of them met up with local lads”.
“All the fellas know me there, “explains Eileen. “I’ve been visiting for 15 years now and I speak Turkish so they ask who’s your friend and it goes from there. You can spot the ones after a visa who want to get married immediately. I’m good at telling the genuine ones who will wait a year or two for the girls to come over. They’re the ones who write and telephone regularly.”
So has Eileen’s talent for matchmaking worked for her two friends who were also featured in the documentary – Susan and Amelia? “Well, Susan met Morat. They were getting on great while they were over there and she went back to see him but there’s a real language barrier and I’m not there to help out”.
And Amelia? “Amelia met two different fellas – she liked one better than the other. They were fighting over her but she didn’t really trust them. She actually wanted an Ulas look-a-like. I thought for a bit she was actually after my husband!”
Despite their short-term romances Eileen says they all had a great holiday together and she now plans to set up a proper dating agency. Eileen’s aim is to help as many Irish women as possible find the type of happiness she has herself. “Every time I go over I take women with me; there’s a lot of interest and demand. You know Ulas is a good-looking fellow. You can see why other women in my sort of situation would want the same.”
In the meantime Eileen is keeping her fingers crossed that Turkey will join the European Union, for, as she admits, it would certainly make her job easier. “There’s lots of problems with visas; there’s lots of fellas refused. They have to have a certain amount of money in the bank”.
And when Eileen has enough money in the bank she says she also has great plans, “to move to Turkey full time. It’s a great place to live”.
You can see Turkish Wives Club again on Sky Real Lives on Tuesday 6th May at 23:00 and Sunday 11th May at 21:00.