The Irish Government has partnered with Active* Consent program based in NUI GalwayICP

The Irish Government has launched a new online learning hub to provide a publicly available resource on sexual consent awareness and consent learning.

The project comes as part of a government initiative to improve the understanding of the meaning of, and importance of, consent in sexual activity.

The Department of Further Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and the Department of Justice have partnered with Active* Consent for the initiative.

The programme, based in NUI Galway, supports young people to have positive and confident sexual health and well-being and primarily works with schools and sports organizations.

The Department of Justice will provide funding of approximately €152,000 for Active* Consent to create the online learning hub.

Launching the initiative, Minister Simon Harris said: “No part of our society is untouched by sexual violence and harassment. People need to be safe, empowered, confident, and capable in their relationships and Ireland can take a leading role in confronting sexual violence and harassment.

"The work being done in our higher education sector on Consent can be a positive educator for other areas, and this online learning hub will provide an important resource not only for our higher education institutions but also for a wider community."

 Dr. Padraig MacNeela, Active* Consent Programme Co-Lead, NUI Galway said, “The online learning hub is based around the idea of ‘consent literacy’ for all members of our society.

"This means that people feel confident in their knowledge and understanding of consent, their communication skills with partners, how to access supports themselves or help others to do so, and how we can safely challenge unacceptable aspects of our culture.

“We will work with our partners such as Galway Rape Crisis Centre and Rape Crisis Network Ireland to create the resources we need to have a culture of consent in our colleges, schools, and communities.”