Public nudity in Ireland

mikemac

Firstly, I did a search but can't find a thread.

Suppose......you wake up at 11am with a shocking hangover surrounded by beer cans.
You stumble to the kitchen for a pint of water.

Place is very dark so you stand by the window, fling open the curtain and open the windows. Ah....fresh air, you feel better already.

Now here you are, naked and standing at your first floor apartment window, certainly in your property.

Children outside playing football on the green see you, complain and wham, gardaí get called for what they call on TV as public indecency.
Can I ask what the law on this is in Ireland?

As another example, suppose there are tens of thousands of houses in Ireland which as semi detached and in estates.
Your garden has boundary walls on both sides, maybe 6ft in height we'll say.
Can a homeowner lie naked and take in the rays in their back garden? But then a neighbors looks over the wall, then the local sergeant is knocking at your door twenty minutes later asking for an explanation

Reloc8

Its not just called that on the telly.

Public indecency at common law can be committed from a private place viewable by the public. There is no requirement to prove sexual motive or an intention to annoy/upset/irritate. The issue is whether the behaviour is improper and such as to outrage the public.

Your friend could be prosecuted. If things become formal he or she should seek the advice of a solicitor.

Specifically on naked sunbathing in one's own backgarden, the issue will be the extent to which someone has to make an effort to look in versus the extent to which the behaviour is obvious and visually accessible to the casual observer.

Delancey

There was a test case some years ago involving the nude sunbathing scenario. A man in Dundalk was convicted following a complaint his neighbour made about him sunbathing naked , the man was charged and convicted.
The appeal court held that this man was sunbathing in his own back garden with no intention to offend anyone - alas I forget the exact reasoning given for allowing the appeal but the gist was something along the lines of '' if his neighbour did not wish to be offended then they should not have looked '' , the court noted the ' reasonable ' precautions taken to ensure privacy.

Doubtless , others here can give a more detailed and knowledgeable reply.

Our man in Havana

It would come down to a reasonable expectation of privacy. The guy in his back garden would have a reasonable expectation of privacy. So if a neighbour chose to look over a fence and see him that is their problem. The guy strutting around naked in a ground floor flat visible form the street is asking for trouble however.

axer

Last weekend I was at a beach in Ireland. Before I got into the water I had to change into my wetsuit and again afterwards I had to take off my wetsuit, dry myself and put back on my clothes. There were men, women and children on the beach at the time. Could I have been done for Public indecency?

Our man in Havana

A cautionary tale: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-10808422

Delancey

He was probably practising for jumping off the wardrobe

Reloc8

axer wrote: »

Last weekend I was at a beach in Ireland. Before I got into the water I had to change into my wetsuit and again afterwards I had to take off my wetsuit, dry myself and put back on my clothes. There were men, women and children on the beach at the time. Could I have been done for Public indecency?

Did you cover your genitals ? If not then eh yes.