A resource report on the gay and lesbian community in Waterford is set to act as a model for other areas.
The study of the needs of lesbians and gay men in the city is unique in that it was funded by Waterford Area Partnership, a development company set up under the 1993 national plan which was drawn up to maximise use of EU structural funds.
Those behind the project hope other area partnerships - particularly those in the south-east region - will follow Waterford's example and set up programmes to tackle the social exclusion problems still encountered by the gay community.
The study, which was carried out by Gay HIV Strategies and Nexus Research, says one of the biggest problems cited by members of the gay and lesbian community in Waterford was the lack of safe and accessible pubs or other social venues for them to meet in and socialise.
This led to considerable isolation, particularly for those who, through lack of money or other constraints, were unable to travel to gay venues in Dublin or Cork. Other issues raised included harassment and violence, with some reporting that coming out as gay in Waterford had had a negative impact on their lives. One person who attended a meeting in the preparation for the study last year described being continually harassed at his workplace, a local factory, while another was attacked in the area in which he lived because people had assumed he was gay.
Difficulty in obtaining venues for gays and lesbians because of prejudice and discrimination was another serious obstacle to the development of the gay community cited in the report.
The Minister of State, Mr Chris Flood, who launched the report last Friday, said it was clear from the experiences of those who took part in the project that lesbians and gay men were not being encouraged to participate fully in society.
Mr Flood, who has responsibility for local development and is also a member of the Cabinet committee on social exclusion, said everyone had a right to participate fully in the economic and social life of their local community, and to feel they had a valuable contribution to make.
If the Waterford report has bleak stories to tell about the experiences of the gay community in the past, local activists believe it could provide the basis for a more positive future. Alan Brett, secretary of the GLAM (Gay, Lesbian and Mixed) Society at Waterford Institute of Technology, says gay organisations will now be taken more seriously.
"When we go looking for funding now, we have this report to back us up," he says. What's really needed at this stage, he adds, is for some entrepreneur to recognise the business potential in having a regular venue for gay people in Waterford and outlying areas to meet, just as they have in Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick.
A resource group has already been established as a result of the report, comprising lesbian and gay representatives and members of mainstream development bodies like Waterford Area Partnership.
The partnership's community development co-ordinator, Mr Ger Doyle, says it will continue its support for the gay community development process, as the report recommends.
It also hopes to initiate joint ventures with the three other partnerships in the south-east, - Waterford County, Wexford Area and Co Wexford - to develop regional initiatives to combat social exclusion as it affects lesbians and gay men.