The Irish government funded an advertising campaign telling grandparents not to hug their grandchildren without their consent. The ad sparked significant outrage among conservatives, who said Dublin was pushing progressive social engineering into the most intimate sphere of family life.
The controversial ad depicts an elderly couple arriving at a family home, where one of their grandchildren runs to welcome and hug them. Meanwhile, a young girl, apparently another grandchild, appears uncomfortable with the otherwise completely normal greeting. The video uses the seemingly ordinary family reunion to convey that even grandparents should seek their grandchildren’s consent before hugging or kissing them rather than assuming such affection is welcome.
The ad forms part of We-Consent, a nationwide initiative operated by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC), which explicitly seeks to change social attitudes towards consent across all age groups and relationships. Launched in March 2023, the campaign received funding from the Department of Justice and Community Foundation Ireland. Harris openly welcomed its objective of achieving a ‘cultural shift and significant behavioural change’.
Reacting to the video, which has since gone viral on X, Irish political commentator John McGuirk sarcastically accused the government of treating ordinary Irish people as a problem requiring correction, remarking that its latest concern was ‘hugging your grandkids’. The conservative Catholic Arena page branded the advertisement ‘deranged’, while Irish activist Ben Gilroy condemned the use of taxpayers’ money to lecture grandmothers on how to welcome their grandchildren.
John McGuirk on X (formerly Twitter): “The latest ad from the Irish Government to the Irish people, who are the font of all problems in the country and desperately need to be stopped from their bad behaviour.This time, it’s hugging your grandkids. pic.twitter.com/IKYKteKP8m / X”
The latest ad from the Irish Government to the Irish people, who are the font of all problems in the country and desperately need to be stopped from their bad behaviour.This time, it’s hugging your grandkids. pic.twitter.com/IKYKteKP8m
Beyond how weird and bizarre the entire ad looks even after repeated viewings, the Irish campaign also shows how dangerous progressive social engineering can be. By extending the language of sexual consent into ordinary expressions of familial affection, the campaign challenges deeply rooted social instincts that have sustained Western family life for generations. Replacing expressions of love towards family members with ideological signalling undermines intergenerational trust and amounts to a fundamental intrusion by the state into private family life.
Related articles:
The post Irish State Ad Tells Grandparents Not to Hug Their Grandchildren without Consent appeared first on Hungarian Conservative.