An anti gay, anti-Semitic preacher has become the first person ever to be banned from Ireland.

Steven L Anderson was due to travel to Dublin on May 26th to preach to a congregation and over 14,000 people signed a petition calling for him to be banned.

Yesterday, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan signed an order, becoming the first Minister to use exclusion powers introduced in 1999.

In a statement, the Minister said, 'I have signed the exclusion order under my executive powers in the interests of public policy.'

The American Baptist pastor is a holocaust denier and praised the gunman who killed 49 people in an attack on a gay nightclub in Florida in 2016.

He also said he prayed every night for the death of Barack Obama when he was president based on the colour of his skin.

There has been widespread praise for the move, however, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties says the exclusion could set a dangerous precedent, but that there may be instances where it is necessary.

Executive Director Liam Herrick says 'there may be instances in which it's be necessary to execute orders of this type, but the threshold should be high and we should have a clear procedure where the state demonstrates the evidence at its disposal which leads it to a decision that this is necessary and that no less invasive measure would adequately address the risk that they have identified'.