Dublin Zoo, in collaboration with Chime, the national charity for deaf and hard-of-hearing people, has begun to offer Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreted videos for visitors through QR codes.

The initiative aims to offer a greater level of accessibility to more people.

Speaking at the launch today, Director of Dublin Zoo, Dr Christoph Schwitzer, believes the new resource will make the zoo a more inclusive place for all visitors.

“Here at Dublin Zoo, we’ve got a Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Inclusivity (DEAI) working group and they always look for opportunities such as ‘how can we make the zoo even more accessible to all the people who come here?'”

“ We have these ‘keeper talks’ that we have been having for many, many years and people love them. People really like to know and like to learn about our animals. So we thought, ok, one opportunity would be actually to translate our keeper talks into Irish Sign Language,” Mr Schwitzer said.

“In the past, accessibility was all about wheelchair accessibility, but it’s much more than that now,” he added.

ISL-interpreted videos are now available for six different keeper talks at various locations across the zoo, such as the habitats of the Asian Lions, the Southern White Rhinos, the Asian Elephants, the Red Pandas, the Humboldt Penguins and the California Sea Lions.

The zookeeper talks provide detailed insights into the animals and their habitats, allowing ISL users to learn directly from the zookeepers in their preferred language.

For many adults, children and families of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community who attended today’s launch, the excitement went far beyond seeing the elephants up close and personal.

It was about finally being able to access information in a public setting: something that, until now, hasn’t always been possible, according to parent and ISL user, Emma Cahill, whose daughter Bonnie is deaf.

“I was recently at a national event a while ago  and there was no ISL interpreter there, which I found very disheartening as a parent of a deaf child,” she said.

“ISL  should be readily available. There shouldn’t even be a question why it’s not available, it just should be there and on all of our national platforms,” Ms Cahill added.

Chime’s Director of Advocacy and Communications, Danielle McLaughlin, believes that as one of Ireland’s official languages, ISL should be provided in all public spaces.

“A lot of people do prefer Irish Sign Language videos. They do prefer the interpretation. Texts can be quite difficult to interpret so it is much easier for people to experience it.

“If it’s their first language and you’re using Irish Sign Language all the time, like you and I would speak English, then it’s much easier to understand and it’s a much more enjoyable experience,” Ms McLaughlin explained.

A self-described citizen journalist and YouTuber has become the first person to be jailed, in a landmark case, over online posts which risked identifying asylum seekers in Ireland.

Paul Nolan (36) stood outside the St John’s House International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) centre in Tallaght, on August 22nd and 26th last year, and questioned teenage boys, a young woman and three middle-aged men who were staying at the facility.

Nolan, a father of three, goaded applicants, saying, “In Ireland, you have no right to privacy,” and he posted videos of his interactions on his YouTube channel.

The four clips revealed their faces. Captions included: “Time to document these people ourselves” and “Cheeky fella these economic welfare scammers”.

He questioned a man who said he was from Gaza about why he was here and not fighting in his own country.

The community employment scheme worker, from Mount Eagle Square, Leopardstown, Dublin 18, pleaded not guilty at Dublin District Court to engaging in threatening, insulting and abusive words or behaviour, under the Public Order Act.

International protection applicants have the legal right to anonymity. Nolan also denied four counts, under Section 26 of the International Protection Act 2015, of publishing information likely to lead members of the public to identify a person as an applicant.

Judge John Hughes noted that this was the first time a prosecution had been brought for this offence, which is punishable by a 12-month sentence.

Nolan was given a 10-month sentence but had the final three months suspended with conditions. The videos must also be taken down.

Judge Hughes described Nolan’s conduct as repeated, premeditated and targeted.

He said Nolan used “a tissue of lies, wrapped in a shroud of pseudo-citizen journalism”.

Sentencing Nolan, he said his conduct was “a disgraceful, glorious display of rudeness, hyena-like behaviour, and ignorance of the people involved”.

Nolan attempted to convince the court he had, in his role as an untrained citizen journalist, learned about a demonstration outside the building and went to investigate for his YouTube channel.

He said he knew the building had previously been used by Revenue, and that undocumented, unvetted men of military age had moved in; however, he maintained that he was unaware it was an IPAS centre.

He claimed that he learned from a comment by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and from RTÉ News that 80 per cent of asylum seekers were economic migrants.

Witnesses from Palestine and Jordan gave evidence.

The father of two boys filmed by the accused said his sons were aged 14 and 17 at the time. Video evidence showed one of them was threatened by Nolan, who said he would break his nose because the teen had elbowed him out of his way.

He told an applicant approaching the centre, “I already got your face, no need to put your hand up,” and mimicked their accents. He narrated his videos, once saying: “These are dangerous people we have walking the streets of Tallaght.”

Nolan already had 47 prior convictions, including public order charges, 19 for drug offences and he had also been jailed previously for six months for dangerous driving.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has told the United Nations General Assembly “we will not leave our lands” in the face of Israeli attacks.

He told the summit that the Palestinian flag “will fly high in our skies as a symbol of dignity, steadfastness, and being free from the yoke of occupation”.

“No matter how long the suffering lasts, it will not break our will to live and survive, the dawn of freedom will emerge,” he said.

Mr Abbas was speaking virtually in New York after the US blocked his entry to the country for the annual summit, and said the people of Gaza “have been facing a war of genocide, destruction, starvation and displacement”.

He told the summit that Israel has “imposed a stifling siege on an entire” population and destroyed more than 80% of homes, schools, hospitals, churches, mosques, facilities and infrastructure.

“It will be recorded in history books and the pages of international conscience as one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy in the 20th and 21st centuries,” he added.

‘We do not want an armed state’

Mr Abbas vowed to work on a peace plan for Gaza with US President Donald Trump, Saudi Arabia, France and the United Nations after the world body overwhelmingly endorsed a seven-page declaration that aims to advance a two-state solution and an end to the war.

“Despite all that our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on October 7th – acts that targeted Israeli civilians and took them as hostages – because such actions do not represent the Palestinian people nor their just struggle for freedom and independence,” Mr Abbas said.

“We have affirmed – and will continue to affirm – that Gaza is an integral part of the State of Palestine, and that we are ready to assume full responsibility for governance and security there. Hamas will have no role in governance, and it – along with other factions – must hand over its weapons to the Palestinian National Authority.

“We reiterate that we do not want an armed state.”

Mr Abbas also reiterated a series of points to the UN, which included the need for an “immediate and permanent end” to the war in Gaza and the need for unconditional entry of humanitarian aid to UN organisations.

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The Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October 2023 triggered the war in Gaza. Hamas killed 1,200 people and Israeli figures suggest around 251 were taken hostage.

According to local health authorities, more than 65,000 people – mostly civilians – have been killed in the war in Gaza. Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

Israel has rejected claims that it is carrying out a genocide in Gaza, arguing it is defending itself and fighting against Hamas, not the Palestinian population.

Attention turns to Netanyahu

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak at the UN General Assembly in New York after a week that has seen widespread condemnation of the situation in Gaza and calls for peace.

Mr Netanyahu will then meet Mr Trump at the White House on Monday.

Speaking on Thursday while hosting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr Trump said he believes “we’re close to getting some kind of deal done”.

He also reiterated his call to “get the hostages back”, adding that there are around 20 living hostages and “38 or so dead hostages” in Gaza.