There are age restrictions on Gaydar but all you have to do is lie about your age to register. The Tribune doctored pictures of a 15-year-old boy, showing an unrecognisable photo of a chin, neck and chest, and uploaded them under the name 'Davey'. Davey's profile page said he was under 18 and anyone who directly contacted him was then informed he was 15.

Within less than five minutes, men, mostly in their late 30s and 40s, were contacting Davey through the website's internal messaging system.

Most wanted to meet that day for nostrings-attached sex. Many sent explicit pictures of their genitalia. Some backed off when Davey revealed his age. One 36year-old accountant didn't have an issue with it: "No prob, it's up to you, " he said.

He later sent texts to a mobile phone number set up by the Tribune asking to meet Davey. Another 36-year-old in "management" was more concerned: "Too dangerous. What do you like to do?" But he later became more curious about Davey, unconcerned about the minor's age. "Do you meet many people on this site? Do you take it up the ass?" he asked.

Gaydar is an extraordinarily successful social networking site. On any given evening, up to 1,000 Irish people browse through the various user profiles, more than half of them in Dublin.

The site was established nine years ago by two South African men, Gary Frisch and Henry Badenhorst. Frisch (38) was found dead at his London home last month. Police are unsure whether his death was accidental or suicide.

The Gaydar website has had a massive impact on western gay communities, effectively moving traditionally outdoor 'cruising' online and providing easy access to instant sex. Up until last week, it was presumed that the site was merely an outlet for gay men, and not used by paedophiles.

At around 1pm on Friday afternoon, after the profile had been viewed around 200 times, Davey's Gaydar account was cancelled and he was banned from the site.

We assume this is because someone concerned about his age contacted a website monitor. A few men had expressed concern at his youth: "You should contact one of the gay-bi groups specifically for teenagers. To be honest it would be the wisest and safer thing to do, " a 41-year-old said. A 54-year-old man who asked Davey if he was interested in "meeting in my hotel room for hot naked action" recoiled when Davey revealed he was 15. "No thanks. Be good and be careful, " he said.

After the account had been cancelled, the Tribune simply set up another one under the same name and within hours Davey had notched up over 100 profile views and several men had solicited him for sex, knowing he was underage.

One man from Monkstown was half thinking of meeting Davey for sex in Seapoint, but given the news of the day, decided not to. "U seem a cool guy but i would prefer to wait till u are 17 before we meet, " he said. "Sorry bud its just the way things are at the moment with those perves using the 14 year old! It feels wrong meeting someone that so much younger keep in touch anyway bud."