An overwhelming majority of Irish people oppose lowering the age of consent for sexual activity, according to a new poll. The findings, published in the Sunday Tribune, showed that 68 per cent opposed a proposal to lower the age of consent to 16.The news comes as political opposition grows to a select committee proposal for a new, lower age of consent. The proposal was made in response to a Supreme Court decision which held that the law which fobade sexual activity under certain ages was unconstitutional. The committee heard evidence from a series of interested parties, including teenagers. They eventually decided that 16 was an appropriate age of consent for both boys and girls. Previously, the age of consent for girls was 17, while the age of consent for boys was 15.
Although the proposal received a broad welcome from children's rights groups, a range of prominent figures attacked it, including the Catholic bishops, the Rape Crisis Network and the Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny.
Mr Kenny said that the proposal sent the wrong message to children, while Catholic bishops said that the proposal risked reducing sexual activity to something trivial.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern welcomed the bishops' intervention, and stressed that no final decision had been made regarding the age of consent.
It is understood that there is widespread Cabinet opposition to the proposal, with Minister for Education Mary Hanafin and Minister for Environment Dick Roche among others known to be against the idea.