Fergus Finlay: Consent ads are not about causing offence — they’re about getting conversations going

After all the furore surrounding the DRCC ad, the worst thing that could happen would be if the conversation was driven into silence by a social media and political pile-on that has gone way over the top

Any understanding of consent starts not with sexual consent, but with the concept of consent itself. It’s about knowing your own boundaries and that others also have boundaries.

I have to begin by declaring an interest. I work on a voluntary basis with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, as a member of its board. I know its work and its people pretty well. It is one of the most admirable and important organisations in the country, led over the years by amazing people who have only one overriding objective — to end the vicious cycle of sexual violence in Ireland. 

As a fundamental part of that mission, they work day in and day out with hundreds of women and men who have been traumatised and damaged by sexual violence.