Yesterday The Irish Times published the results of a poll that show we are becoming ever more liberal in our attitudes towards sex and relationships. The results, which aren’t a bit surprising, will be greeted with much self-adulation by liberals because they mean we are becoming more tolerant.

This is true. A society that places a very high value on personal freedom has to be more tolerant in order that no-one will disapprove of the way I choose to live my life, even if I choose say, marital infidelity.

But more liberal social attitudes are always associated with higher levels of family breakdown as well. That stands to reason. Societies that place very high value on personal freedom will place much less value on commitment and self-sacrifice. It’s very hard to keep a marriage going, for example, if you’re not sometimes willing to set aside your own happiness for the sake of your family.

In Ireland, the growth of more liberal attitudes towards sex and relationships has been accompanied by a 500pc increase in marital breakdown, a 400pc increase in cohabitation, a doubling in 20 years to 26pc in the number of children who are no longer being raised by their own married parents.

These trends are extremely worrying and only a deeply ignorant elite intent on congratulating itself over its success in bringing about its desired social transformation could celebrate them.

In a press release yesterday we drew attention to the belief of a majority of respondents (57pc) that living together before marriage will lead to a more stable marriage. This is the opposite of the truth. According to a 2002 study from the US Department of Health, cohabiting first is associated with a greater risk of divorce.

Also, in no society has a big increase in cohabitation been associated with a big decrease in divorce, which is what you would expect if cohabitation leads to happier marriages.

When RedC conducted a poll on behalf of The Iona Institute last year and asked people about cohabitation, it found that 61pc agreed with the statement, ‘In general it is better for a child if their parents are married’, and 53pc agreed with the statement, ‘In general marriage is better for society than couples living together’.

The poll also showed that only a small minority of people think that sex outside marriage is wrong. But the real question is whether people think it is best for people to marry before they have children. This is the really essential component of traditional sexual morality.

As mentioned above, 61pc of us think it is better for children if their parents are married. This compares with only 15pc who think sex outside marriage is wrong. You’d like that 61pc to be much higher, but it’s much higher than 15pc.

Finally, the poll shows a clear majority in favour of same-sex marriage. This can’t be taken seriously. The liberal position almost invariably starts out ahead in the referenda we have had on social issues and it gets reeled back in once people start to hear counterarguments for the first time.

For example, the poll shows a small majority in favour of gay adoption. When we commissioned a poll asking a similar question we got a similar result, but when we asked whether “adopted children have a right to be raised by a mother and father in preference to gay or lesbian parents where possible”, 65pc versus 23pc said they did.

So it depends on what you ask.