– Not uncommon dressing-down delivered by some soccer coaches in these islands when one of the young men in his charge has failed to control a football with the elegance required.

Over the past couple of days the Irish airwaves, newspapers and social networks have seen the condemnation of a group of gardai who, after having arrested two female Corrib gas protestors, joked about rape while in the garda car on the way to the station. It should be noted that the protestors were not in the car at the time. The offensive remarks were captured by the microphone of a video camera which had been confiscated from the protestors but which had remained switched on throughout the car journey.

One such “joke” was as follows: “Give me your name and address or I’ll rape you.”

Rape is not a joke.

Rape is not funny.

Rape is rightly viewed by society as being a heinous crime, second only to murder in its seriousness. It harms the victim both physically and emotionally; it has historically been used as a tool of domination and oppression by barbarous individuals and movements. No reasonable person would stand up and say that anything to do with rape is funny.

These men have been condemned by all sides. The gardai in question should be suspended, at least, and a full investigation carried out to ensure that this was definitely, certainly and without doubt just a joke and nothing more. High standards of propriety are expected from our police force, and rightly so.

But when does propriety turn to misplaced piety?

There’s the rub. The elephant in the room over the last couple of days is this: a subject’s taboo-ness, the very disgusting and serious nature of that crime or topic, can be the very reason why its use in certain situations can, yes, be funny.

Lest it not be absolutely clear, the shocking impropriety of a group of gardai, upholders of law and defenders of citizenry, making jokes involving rape is indefensible.  But they, no less than anybody else, still deserve a fair trial even if it is only in the court of public opinion.

The reaction from the media, the various spokespersons from various interests groups offering shock, horror and outrage, as well as the real-time breathless condemnations of the twitterati… it’s strange to say but much of it might be missing the point.

To illustrate, start with the big one.  Murder.

Murder is not funny. The deliberate ending of a human life by another person is judged by society as being its most serious crime. At the same time, there have been jokes about murder and murderers, terrorists and serial killers told by comedians the world over, from Bill Hicks to Emo Phillips to Patrick Kielty.

Racism is not funny. The mere mention of the word brings to mind images of some of mankind’s lowest ebbs; of slavery and apartheid, of generations of oppression, beatings, murders and hate crimes. Yet it would challenge anybody to view Chris Rock’s stand-up comedy act and not raise a smile, let alone burst out laughing. Before Chris Rock, there was Eddie Murphy; before Eddie there was Richard Pryor. A direct line of comedy talent and all used racism as a key, edgy component to their routines, with Rock going so far as to successfully perform his “Is it ever ok for a white man to call a black man a nigger?” sketch to a sellout audience in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Paedophilia is not funny. The deliberate sexual abuse of children, the most vulnerable members of our community, is disgusting and perverse. It is also the basis of a number of popular jokes by highly successful comedian Jimmy Carr and was the subject of Chris Morris’ brilliant, acclaimed Brass Eye paedophile episode in 2001.

In each example above, a subject of universal societal revulsion was taken and, using great comedic talent, timing and delivery, turned into laughter; the shocking nature of each subject serving as the very core of the joke. Importantly, each performance was delivered for an appropriate audience; yes, even Rock’s nigger jokes in Johannesburg.

The gardai involved in the current uproar are not moonlighting as professional comedians, judging by the clear evidence to the contrary on the released tape.

Their “jokes”, such as they were, were not funny. However, the lack of obvious humour in these jokes should not logically insist that they were in fact revelations of these men’s true views of rape as a non-serious crime, much less that they had sincere plans to sexually intimidate or commit a serious sexual assault against two women in custody. That logical progression is ludicrous, but reason does not often result in airtime, column inches or retweets.

They were jokes told for a select audience, just as those told by Hicks, Rock, or Carr. When the tape was then replayed to a wider audience there was understandable shock, just as there would be similar shock if one were to place a 72 year old grandmother in front of a video featuring the late Lenny Bruce.

The gardai in question should be castigated for what they have done, which is to have made utterly inappropriate jokes by people who, in their position, should absolutely not have done so. They will be investigated and most probably (and properly) suspended for a time.

The unseemly but undeniable fact is that in our society, such as it is, some men when in male-only environments will use language which is hugely derogatory towards women. They will also sometimes use such language in an attempt at low comedy. From the football dressing room to the factory floor, it happens.  The fact that it happens doesn’t make it right, or defensible, but neither is it right to pretend that it doesn’t happen in the first place.

The comments by the gardai were disgusting, inappropriate and reprehensible, but it does no good to pretend that there has never been a joke told about rape and never will be. The jokes were not the crux of the problem; rather it was the position of these men within society, as well as the fact that the women in question were in their custody at the time, which gave a darker context to the remarks. That specific context, over and above everything else, is the problem.

Finally, it would be remiss not to mention that every serious and/or tragic event starts a countdown to when that first highly inappropriate joke arrives via text message, facebook, twitter or email. From Diana’s death to the tsunami in Japan, it has always been the case and probably always will be.

Are those jokes inappropriate?

Of course.

But that’s the point.