Local YouTube star appearing at huge Comic Con event in New York City
Local YouTube star Sean McLoughlin, aka Jacksepticeye, is today (Thursday) appearing at New York Comic Con, which is billed as North America's most attended fan convention.
The event in Manhattan will run for four days in total and is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of attendees.
Sean, a native of Cloghan in Offaly and a former resident of Athlone, will be among the stars taking part in signing events and panel discussions both today and tomorrow.
Currently based in the UK, he also announced the return of his major annual fundraiser, Thankmas, which will be staged in the form of two live shows at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles on December 6, and will also be streamed live on his YouTube channel.
His Thankmas fundraisers have raised millions for good causes over the years, and last year's event generated a whopping €5.5m for the World Central Kitchen food poverty charity.
Sean announced that this year's event will have a mental health theme.
"Anybody that's watched me for any length of time knows just how important mental health is to me, because I've gone through my own struggles with mental health over the years and I still struggle with my mental health all the time," he said.
"I don't think it's something that you ever figure out, and you ever get on top of, but you can definitely get better tools, get better help, and that's what I've been doing.
"I've been reaching out and getting help from a therapist for two years now. I'm on medications for depression and anxiety to try and deal with my own mental health, so when people say that they're struggling, and that stuff helps them get through a hard time, I'm there with you.
"I know exactly what it takes, and I know how strong you need to be to be able to get over any of those obstacles."
The charities to benefit from the Thankmas fundraiser this year are Crisis Text Line and Samaritans.
Sean described them as "two wonderful organisations that deal with people in times of crises and mental health struggles to try and get them through tough times".