What is a homophobic crime? It may seem obvious, but it has yet to be defined. In a study of anti-gay and anti-lesbian crime carried out for the Garda S∅ochβna College in December 1999, Supt Patrick J. McGowan noted that the dictionary definition of homophobia is "fear or hatred of homosexuals", but that a literal translation would be something like "fear of sameness".

Having also noted that most of those who assault gay men are in their late teens or early 20s, he concluded that "homophobia attacks can be categorised as a form of bullying".

McGowan's study is one of a mere handful devoted to homophobic crime in the Republic. In a review of 13 homicides between 1975 and 1996, all involving victims known to be homosexual, the State pathologist, Dr John Harbison, emphasised the ferocity of many of the attacks.

Multiple wounds were inflicted in all but two of the cases - in one, 89 injuries were recorded - leading Harbison to conclude that most showed an element of overkill; in other words, the infliction of many more injuries than were required to cause death.

In another 1996 study, called Prejudice In Ireland Revisited, the Maynooth-based priest Father Micheβl MacGrΘil wrote that "the level of homophobia in the Irish population is still very high and quite disturbing. This form of prejudice seems to be cultural in origin. It may also be a reaction to a sense of insecurity in relation to a person's own sexual identity".

Until quite recently, crime directed at the gay population has been entered into general crime statistics under, say, the category of assault.

But the new PULSE computer system will enable garda∅ to register crimes under such headings as homophobic, xenophobic and anti-Semitic.

Provided the crimes are recognised as such by those whose job it is to register them, by January 2003 we may well have a much clearer picture of how crime affects the gay community.