Tonight we'll be seeing a 'first date' of its kind to air in the UK and Ireland.

The famous restaurant of romance tonight will feature John-Charles and Stephen, two men who will be having the show’s first-ever date conducted entirely in sign language.

John-Charles (27) is a design student from Edenderry who is deaf. He’s matched with Stephen (25) who grew up with a speech impediment and has a degree Deaf Studies in college. Stephen is also the reigning Mr Gay Ireland, and turns out to be a familiar face to John-Charles.

In a sneak preview, we get to see that the guys already know each other, due to Dublin’s relatively small deaf and gay dating scene. With the ice already broken, fans can’t wait to see if they hit it off.

The show is sure to start a conversation on dating with disabilities and put a fresh mainstream focus on the deaf community.

Also booked in for dates tonight are drama student Ethan from Claremorris, who will keep things simple as he eats a plate of plain rice with his wise-cracking date Grainne from Wicklow.

Spiritual divorcee Mark from Dublin and life coach Patricia (45) from Offaly will be looking to ascend to a higher plane of romantic consciousness.

Former model Mathew is about to unleash his best lines, much to the amusement of stand up comedian Cat, and former self-confessed player Aaron from Clonee brings his A-game as Sophie from Tallaght attempts to figure out if he’s her prince or just another frog.

First Dates Ireland airs on RTÉ2, January 30th at 9.30pm