Three in a bed sex advice for young teens is funded by Irish health service

               

Dublin: An Irish government-funded website, SpunOut.ie, aimed at teens or "young people" provides tips on how to enjoy "threesomes." Seriously. The site is also backed by Atlantic Philanthropies, founded by Irish American billionaire Chuck Feeney.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry? Don't get me wrong. I'm steamed about this. I keep repeating to myself: how dare they? How dare they so deliberately undermine what my wife and I teach our children? And how dare it be done with our money?

Yet it's just so outrageous that I find it almost amusing. I keep asking myself: is this the Ireland that the "men of 16" dreamed of? Is this what the Easter Proclamation was about? For what died the sons of Roisín, was it threesomes?

Of course when that little humor wears off I'm burning again.

SpunOut.ie purports to be "dedicated to helping you make informed decisions about things which may be happening in your life." Well help on having "a fun and safe experience" in a thressome is the sort of help that my wife and I don't want anyone giving our children.

I am confident that my wife and I have raised our children well, but this official sanctioning of decadence is a slap in our face. This is the government telling our children "pay no heed to what those people say." Infuriating.

This kind of thing is a leftover from the Celtic Tiger days. Maybe they were so busy working all the hours God sent that they had no time for doing what parents of teenagers ought to do: fight the good fight, say 'No' often and mean it!, be resolute and pray that they come out all right on the other end. Maybe making money hand over fist or just keeping up with the Joneses took so much energy that they couldn't fight the good fight.

Whatever the cause, there was a collective void where parents should have been. A void filled by ideas like those advocated at SpunOut.ie. The difference this time I feel like they're mocking us parents for our weakness, having advanced to where they are advising our children on "threesomes."

It's galling. But the fact that it's paid for with taxpayers' money - OUR MONEY - makes it even worse.

The Irish government is funding SpunOut.ie through the Department of Health, a department that is under serious pressure due to the cutbacks in government spending. Or so we're told.