The Taoiseach has backed Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan for getting a controversial hugging consent video taken down, despite backlash from the opposition.
A social media video about children’s consent to receiving hugs from grandparents which was produced by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) was taken down on Thursday after receiving criticism.
Mr O’Callaghan said his department, which funded the video, told DRCC to take the “inappropriate and demeaning” ad down.
On Friday, Mícheál Martin backed his Fianna Fáil colleague, agreeing with him that the video was inappropriate.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin backed his party colleague Jim O’Callaghan, who had the video taken down (Cillian Sherlock/PA)
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“I don’t believe the ad was appropriate at all. I think it was misfocused,” he said.
“I think it was inappropriate as an ad, clearly, and did cause offence to quite a number. But I don’t think that was intentional.
“I mean, a lot of grandparents would have been taken aback by that ad, if we are honest about it. I think we have to be very careful at how we balance all of this because counter reactions gain momentum as a result of the situation.”
He added that criticism of Mr O’Callaghan was a deliberate “political manoeuvre”.
He said: “I think there’s been some other political parties are endeavouring to create a broader narrative around that specific ad, which I don’t think holds up either.
“They were blaming the Government deliberately as a political manoeuvre by them, even though Government is not responsible for agencies designing ads and so on.
Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said his department asked for the video to be taken down (Brian Lawless/PA)
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“I think Minister O’Callaghan was quite in his right to clarify that, and to make it clear that this was not something that Government had approved of.”
On Thursday, Mr O’Callaghan took some credit for the video being taken down, releasing a statement and publishing social media posts to that regard.
“The video produced by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre involving grandparents does not represent the views of the Government,” he said in the statement.
“It was both inappropriate and demeaning to grandparents and has been removed by DRCC following my official’s engagement with them. It goes without saying that having loving grandparents in a child’s life is an incredibly positive thing to be cherished and not something to be campaigned against.
“While it is vital to ensure that people understand the concept of consent when it comes to sexual relationships, this video did not advance that aim and in many ways was counterproductive.”
But the move was criticised by Social Democrats justice spokesman Gary Gannon, who accused the minister of setting a “dangerous precedent” and creating a “pile-on” of the DRCC.
Gary Gannon TD said the minister had sparked a ‘pile-on’ against the rape crisis centre (Damien Eagers/PA)
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Mr Gannon said: “It makes me deeply uncomfortable that the Minister for Justice has used his Twitter account to create an online pile-on of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.
“It also appears to me a dangerous precedent that this minister, and his department, have instructed the Rape Crisis Centre to remove content that he disapproved of.
“It should never be controversial to teach children about consent. That should start at a young age, it should begin in the home.”
Responding to Mr Gannon’s criticism, the Taoiseach said on Friday: “I think that was very wrong, of Gary.
“The pile-on was out long before Minister O’Callaghan spoke at all. I think there was kind of an instant reaction to it.
“That’s just the way it is. We live in a very febrile world, and particularly with the onset of social media.”
The video showed grandparents arriving at a home, where they are enthusiastically embraced by their grandson. Another child at the door looks uncomfortable when the older woman approaches for a hug and attempts to give her a kiss.
Former justice minister Helen McEntee said the priority for the campaign funded through Cuan should have been on victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence (PA)
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The video then cuts to text on screen reading: “Not everyone wants a hug. Even from the people who love them.”
It continues: “Awkward? Maybe. Important? Absolutely. We-Consent.ie is here to help.”
The video, and two others in the We-Consent campaign, were removed after the grandparent clip in particular was criticised online and by politicians.
It was funded through Cuan, Ireland’s statutory agency for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence set up by Fine Gael TD Helen McEntee when she was the justice minister.
Speaking on Thursday, she said Cuan was established to support the victims and survivors of domestic and sexual violence, which should have been the focus of the campaign.
“I think it is absolutely essential that we have a very open and a very honest conversation on consent, particularly when the epidemic of domestic and sexual violence, sexual assault, it is still here,” she said.
The video was produced by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (Brian Lawless/PA)
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“It is still with us, and there is so much work that we need to do. But I think that should be our focus when we’re talking about consent campaigns.
“I’m not sure the direction that it has taken, encouraging grandparents to ask permission to hug their children, is really where I see it being a priority or a focus that is needed.”
The DRCC said it carried out workshops looking at experiences that made participants feel uncomfortable.
In a statement, a spokesperson for DRCC said the video reflected this feedback.
“We-Consent is a long-term campaign as part of Dublin Rape Crisis Centre’s prevention work to increase the awareness and practice of consent in Ireland,” they said.
“We created a video series for our social media channels based on feedback from over 20 consent workshops with younger and older people. Part of the workshops involved sharing participants’ own experiences of instances when they felt uncomfortable. The scenarios depicted in the video series came up very frequently in all the workshops.
“The videos were created with volunteers and staff and reflected these conversations. We do not want that negativity to impinge on and distract from the vital work that we as a centre do in supporting victims and survivors and improving awareness of these important issues across society.”