The Garda authorities have said they will narrow their definition of hate crimes following the passage of legislation that contains a much more restrictive definition than the one used by the gardaí.
The hate crime legislation that was passed late last year provides for stiffer sentences if a court finds that hate was a motivating factor in crimes such as assault.
The legislation provides for a “demonstration” test for hatred, requiring the perpetrator of a crime to have demonstrated that they were motivated by hate, for example by using racist or homophobic language during or before an assault.
However, this definition of a hate crime is much narrower than the one used by the Garda. In leaflets posted in Garda stations and on the Garda website, a hate crime is described as one where the victim feels that it is motivated by hate – a subjective test, rather than the objective one now contained in the legislation.
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The Garda definition says that a hate crime is “any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person to, in whole or in part, be motivated by hostility or prejudice, based on actual or perceived age, disability, race, colour, nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or gender”.
Asked about the discrepancy between the legislative definition and the Garda definition, Garda Headquarters first said that the new Act “will provide greater insight into hate motivation of these, and other listed offences, in the Act and will be examined in reporting statistics for 2025 which will take place in Q1 2026″.
[ Small increase in hate-related crimes reported to gardaí last yearOpens in new window ]
When pressed on the discrepancy, the Garda said the definitions relate to “2024 and previous years, when no hate crime legislation was in place. The definition in place for hate crime is now provided for in legislation.”
The Garda subsequently confirmed that its definition of a hate crime would be changed to take account of the new legislation.
Although there was no such thing in law as a hate crime until the new legislation was put in place last year, the Garda has been collecting statistics on hate crimes and hate incidents – an incident motivated by hate but which falls short of a crime – reported to the force for several years.
Last week, it said that 676 hate crimes and hate-related incidents were reported to gardaí last year compared with 651 the previous year.
But the Garda authorities said that hate-related crime is still underreported in Ireland and encouraged more people to come forward.
Race remained the most prevalent discriminatory motive, up from 36 per cent in 2023 to 39 per cent last year. Just under half of all hate-related incidents occurred in the Dublin region.
