New laws that, for the first time, make it a specific criminal offence to commit a hate crime based on the colour of a person’s skin, sexual orientation or gender, including gender expression or identity, are very welcome. That those laws are bolstered by the possibility of longer prison terms doubles that welcome. Other “protected characteristics” from which might attract a hate-based conviction include race, nationality, religion, ethnic and national origin, and any disability.

These laws, as the all too frequent hate fests on social media show, are sadly necessary. Though the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act, 1989 has been in place for over three decades, it deals with hate speech and does not cover gender, disability or Traveller ethnicity.