A group of over two hundred evangelical leaders have called on the Government to rescind planned changes to the junior-cycle RSE curriculum because of concerns about graphic content and radical gender theory.

The letter, written by Pastor John Ahern of All Nations Church, Dublin, and Mark Loughridge, New Life Fellowship, Letterkenny, claim the current proposals would expose Junior Cert students to pornographic content and teach transgender ideology.

“We believe that exposing any child to pornography is dangerous. We would not expose children to alcohol or drugs in the interests of their education, so why do it with something that research has shown to be as addictive as cocaine, causing damage to the neural pathways and receptors in the brain?”, they write.

“Regarding the pushing of transgender ideology—we note that other countries are backing off this push having been ahead of Ireland in implementing it. They have seen the wreckage in damaged young lives which it has produced and recognise that many more issues are involved than transgender ideology allows for. Ireland does not need to go down the same tragic and misguided path”.

Meanwhile, a review of Ireland’s sexual health strategy recommends the development of a plan to address the impact of early exposure to pornography.

Commissioned by the Department of Health, ‘The Review of the National Sexual Health Strategy’ (NSHS) said adolescents’ pornography consumption is associated with subsequent increased sexual, relational, and body dissatisfaction.

“Increased pornography viewing has been associated with younger sexual debut, higher numbers of partners, and casual sex partners,” it said.

The current strategy has supported training in this area to youth workers through the National Youth Council of Ireland.