This might be a tad harder than asking people to stay out of pubs

LOCKDOWN divided us into the haves and the have-nots. Some have a garden, some have a home office, some have delightful pets. Others don’t. A new HSE campaign reveals that there are those who can have sex and there are those who cannot, or at least should not.

If you don’t live with your sexual partner, the HSE and the Irish Pharmacy Union are asking that you consider masturbating or maybe using phone or online sex instead of meeting up for sex in person with someone and potentially spreading Covid-19.

It’s unfortunate that this sensible and straightforward public health campaign faces the challenge of being rolled out in Ireland.

Recent examples of things which proved too sexual for Ireland include the undisputed existence of tampons, and cinematic footage of Paul Mescal’s chest.

There is no telling what kind of steamy frenzy the public acknowledgement of masturbation may cause for the kinds of people who would rather we all still believed it made us go blind.

But there may also be a different kind of opposition to the public health advice.

While young people do not have a monopoly on sexual activity, the HSE and the IPU will understandably aim the new campaign at

You can probably figure out how to make video calling work for both of you

them because younger people could be more likely to have sexual partners who they don’t live with.

People under the age of 30 have a significantly more mature attitude to sex than any other Irish generation, but could also be more likely to see restriction on sexual activity as an infringement of personal liberty that they’re not willing to tolerate.

Sexual autonomy was not easily won in Ireland, and talking about taking it away or restricting personal choice riles people.

It may have been easier to ask people to stay away from the pub than asking them to refrain from going on a dating app.

But this is a public health measure. The entire country has already, with relatively little disgruntlement, sacrificed many other personal liberties for the sake of safety.

We all know we’ve been forced to abstain from enough everyday joys over the past five months without needing to add sex to the miserable list of forbidden activities.

However, as the HSE explained, alternatives are available.

If you have taught an elderly relative and your Luddite colleagues how to use Skype, you can probably also figure out how to make video calling work for you and your partner – as long as your trust and safety is completely secure.

Some will feel like this is an unfair sacrifice. Maybe we should let people indulge in a sense of patriotic duty, as they navigate their new and disimproved Covid-19 sex lives? Think of it as a modern ‘lie back, and think of Ireland’.