An overwhelming majority of Irish people oppose a recent proposal to lower the age of consent for sexual activity to 16, according to a new opinion poll.

The poll, published in the Sunday Tribune, showed that a massive 68 per cent of people are opposed to the proposal. The news comes in the wake of political opposition to a proposal from a select committee which proposed a new, lower age of consent.

The proposal was made in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling which found that the legislation regarding illegal underage sexual activity was unconstitutional.

The committee heard evidence from interested parties, including teenagers themselves and 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.

The proposal received a broad welcome from children’s rights groups,but the proposal was attacked by a range of prominent figures, 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.

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.