Anti-gay preacher Steven Anderson banned from Ireland

Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption

Steven Anderson has previously called for the death of Barack Obama and praised the gunman who killed 49 people in a gay night club attack in Florida

A controversial US preacher has become the first person to be banned from Ireland under a 20-year-old power.

Steven Anderson, a pastor from Arizona, runs the Faithful Word Baptist church and openly expresses anti-gay and anti-Semitic views.

His website claimed that he was due to preach in Dublin on 26 May.

However, an online petition calling for Mr Anderson to be banned from Ireland was created in response, and gained 14,000 signatures.

• Jamaica bans anti-gay preacher

• Botswana deports Steven Anderson

• Anderson: “Hell's gonna be pretty hot for you”

Mr Anderson has previously called for the death of former US President Barack Obama and praised the gunman who killed 49 people in an attack on a gay night club in Florida in 2016.

Irish Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan signed an exclusion order for Mr Anderson with immediate effect on 10 May under the Immigration Act 1999.

It is the first time an exclusion order has been granted since the creation of the act 20 years ago.

Mr Anderson has been banned from a number of countries, including the UK.

Mr Flanagan said he had signed the order “under my executive powers in the interests of public policy”.