An Irish charity has withdrawn a publicly funded video suggesting grandparents should seek consent before hugging their grandchildren, after criticism from government ministers and opposition politicians.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) confirmed on October 22 that it had taken the clip, along with two others, off its social media channels.
The 25-second advert showed two grandparents arriving at a house and hugging a young boy enthusiastically before turning to his teenage sister, who appeared uneasy at the prospect. It ended with the line “Not everyone wants a hug”.
The videos formed part of We-Consent, a long-term campaign run by the DRCC and backed by the Department of Justice, the Department of Children, Disability and Equality and Cuan, the State agency for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said the advert was “both inappropriate and demeaning to grandparents” and did not represent the views of the Irish Government. He said it had been removed after his officials contacted the charity.
Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill told the Dáil, the lower house of parliament, that the government did not support the advert and that the campaign had been funded without any reference to ministers.
She was responding to Aontú TD Paul Lawless, who asked why the State was encouraging grandmothers to second-guess themselves over hugging their grandchildren and pressed for the cost of the campaign.
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, whose party sits on the conservative right of Irish politics, told RTÉ Radio 1 the campaign risked planting the idea that a grandparent’s hug was “insidious”.
Criticism also came from within the governing coalition. Fine Gael Senator Gareth Scahill called the clip a waste of resources and asked whether families would need consent forms at airport arrival halls to greet relatives at Christmas.
Figures compiled by the Irish news site Gript put the State money behind the campaign at almost €1.3 million between 2021 and 2025, covering We-Consent and related work.
The Department of Justice accounted for €923,776 in consent-related grants between 2021 and 2023, with a further €375,535 coming from Cuan in 2024 and 2025.
Public funding of advocacy groups has become a recurring theme in Irish politics, after earlier disclosures about state support for campaigning organisations prompted questions in the Oireachtas.
The DRCC said it had made the three videos on the premise that boundaries should be respected from an early age, and would withdraw them while it considered whether they were having the effect intended.
The charity said it would not comment further until a review had been completed. Ireland, an EU member state, has seen repeated rows over publicly funded social messaging in recent years.
