Working grant - Latvian brides. British isles. Asian grooms.

These women are entering not only a fake marriage but also, often, an underworld of crime and abuse. Latvian journalist Aleksandra Jolkina and Irish Times social affairs correspondent Jamie Smyth investigate how the marriage scams work. The marriages are organised by criminal gangs recruiting either 'brides' or 'grooms'. The project maps the lackluster and disjointed response of the Irish authorities, which has allowed the scam to flourish. It identifies the increasing frustration of the Latvian authorities, who are seeing a growing number of their citizens becoming involved and getting into trouble.