Irish attitudes to sex and relationships are becoming more liberal according to a new Irish Times/Behaviour Attitudes survey published today.

Among its findings is that 57pc of respondents believe living together before marriage results in more stable marriages; 67% believe gay couples should be allowed to marry; 48% admire those who choose celibacy for moral or religious reasons; 46% say gay couples should be allowed to adopt, and the average age when most people feel teenagers should begin to have sex is 18 years.

Commenting on the findings, David Quinn of The Iona Institute said that more liberal attitudes on sexual morality are always linked with growing family breakdown.

He said: “The poll certainly does show that the attitude of Irish people towards sex and relationships is becoming more liberal. However, this growing liberalisation is closely associated with growing family breakdown, which is very bad for children. In the last 20 years, marriage breakdown has increased fivefold and more than one in four children are now being raised without the benefit of a married mother and father.”

Commenting specifically on the finding regarding cohabitation, Mr Quinn stated: “The fact that a majority of people believe something that is actually the opposite of the truth is deeply worrying. If people believe that living together first will lead to more stable marriages, then cohabitation is only going to increase and so will later marriage breakdown as cohabitation is associated with higher levels of divorce.”

According to a 2002 study from the US Dept of Health, couples who first cohabit are a third more likely to divorce than couples who don’t first cohabit.

He continued: “In no society has increased cohabitation been associated with lower divorce and separation, and Ireland is no different. Cohabitation and marriage breakdown have both increased together rapidly…In addition, increased cohabitation is associated with greater relationship instability generally and is especially bad for children as cohabiting parents are much more likely to separate than married parents.”

The 2006 census revealed that there are a total of 122,000 cohabiting couples in Ireland, making it the fastest-growing growing type of family unit.