Family planning and crisis pregnancy experts are shocked at the results of a new survey, which reports that 46 per cent - nearly half - of sexually active men and women in the State are not using any form of contraception.

The survey of 410 sexually active people aged 18-45 has also revealed that Irish women have sex more when they drink alcohol, or after they have exercised. Most women are losing their virginity at the age of 18, while 20 per cent of men claim to have lost theirs before the age of 16.

The survey of sexual attitudes and practices was conducted by Drury Research and commissioned by Schering AG, a pharmaceutical company.

Regarding sexual positions, Irish women seem to be a conservative lot, with the majority of women listing the missionary as their favourite (38 per cent), followed by the woman on top (14 per cent). The standing position and doggie-style barely got a look in at 1 per cent and 7 per cent respectively. Thirty-eight per cent of women didn't know what their preferred position was.

Even so, we seem to know more about positions than about contraception. Irresponsible risk-taking is so deeply embedded in Irish sexuality that half of adults still risk crisis pregnancy.

"It's crazy. I'm stunned," commented Karen Kiernan of Cherish, a support organisation for single parents, on the finding that half of sexually active adults are leaving themselves at risk of unplanned pregnancy.

"It's a real indictment of our society that we are not being open enough about sexual activity. We already know that young people don't have the access to contraceptive advice, or it's too expensive. Even when young people do have access to contraception, they don't have the self-esteem to use it."

Also shocked to the point of incredulity by the results was Catherine Heaney of the Irish Family Planning Association. She had thought that the worst scenario had already been presented by the Durex report, which found that the proportion of teenagers having unprotected sex has increased by 30 per cent in the past three years. In 2000, 27 per cent of 17-20 year olds used no protection when having sex with a new partner. This compares to 1997, when the Durex Report found that 18 per cent of 17-20 year-olds were having unprotected sex with new partners.

So where is all this supposed sex education in the schools getting us? Nowhere. People in their late teens and early 20s are ignorant about contraception, says Emer N∅ Canbhβird, welfare officer with Trinity College Dublin Students' Union. Alcohol has a lot to do with unprepared sex and students cannot afford condoms at £12-£15 for 10. But the main issue, in her view, is: "There's not enough sex education, full-stop."

Karen Kiernan agrees: "The RSE (relationships and sexuality education) programmes in schools are obviously not working. Many schools don't implement the full programme because there is an a la carte approach. Advice about contraception could be anything from promoting chastity, to teaching the full range of methods."

Adults need education too, the survey shows, since people up to the age of 45 were included. "People seem to think they are invincible," comments Tracey Stafford of Drury Communications. Young role models in pop music and fashion who claim to have become pregnant "by mistake" don't help matters. Recently, Jordan - a fashion model - told Frank Skinner, on his TV show, that she had become pregnant because her partner "didn't pull out in time". Withdrawal isn't a method, it's Russian roulette.

Rising abortion rates are the proof of irresponsible behaviour. On Wednesday, the Well Woman Centre revealed that 45 per cent of Irish women having abortions at one clinic in the UK had used no form of contraception. Of the 55 per cent who were using contraception, 40 per cent were using condoms that failed - a problem in itself.

"What is clearly needed is a very radical rethink on the provision of contraceptive services in this country, along with a substantial rethink on educating people about contraception before they become sexually active", commented Senator Helen Keogh, chairwoman of the Well Woman Centre.

The Government has recently announced the formation of a Crisis Pregnancy Agency to help prevent abortions and promoting contraception in schools is one of the aims of the agency's director, Olive Braiden.

The broad age range in the Schering AG study would suggest that a large proportion of the people were probably in relationships in which becoming pregnant would not be the end of the world, which may explain their relaxed attitudes. However, most people surveyed didn't want a pregnancy. The majority admitted they would be horrified if they became pregnant unexpectedly, listing loss of physical and psychological freedom and drop in income as major concerns. Yet, at the same time, half of them weren't taking precautions.

"I don't think it's a question of ignorance or accessibility of contraception," says Eugene O'Connor, business manager of Primary Care, the female healthcare division of Schering AG. UK research has found that women believe that planning contraception makes sex "cold and clinical", while spontaneity and risk-taking are more romantic.

People are ambivalent about leaving themselves open to conception. "People say they don't want a baby, but then feel that it wouldn't be the end of the world if they had one. We need to do research into this specific area of why people's behaviour is different to their stated intentions," says O'Connor.

Four out of 10 sexually active Irish women use the pill, yet most say they haven't yet found their ideal contraceptive. They want a contraceptive that they don't have to remember to take, that doesn't interfere with their sex life and allows them to be spontaneous and free from worry, according to the Drury research.

The commissioners of the research, Schering AG, is maker of Mirena, a contraceptive used by 25 per cent of sexually active women in Sweden.

Called "the most significant advance in reversible contraception since the invention of the pill", by Prof John Guillebaud, one of Europe's leading contraception experts, Mirena is a locally acting hormonal contraceptive that is visually similar to a contraceptive IUD, but delivers a low dose of contraceptive hormone continuously for five years. The Coombe hospital is offering Mirena as a safe, low-cost and reversible alternative to sterilisation.

Schering is focusing Mirena on sexually active women who have already had children - and it is these women who are having the most sex, according to the survey. Bucking the notion that a woman's sex life flies out the window once children are born, 72 per cent of Irish women with children claimed to have frequent weekly sex compared to 48 per cent of those without. It would appear that when Irish women have thrown caution to the winds once, they're prepared to do it again, even if they won't admit it.