Host Patrick Kielty ended the Late Late Show on Friday night with a powerful monologue on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Comparing the conflict to the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Kielty recalled growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and remembered what it was like to live "during a conflict where the rights and wrongs of politics were always writ large".
"There are no words that will even touch the sides on the pain and the loss and the ongoing horror that's been felt by so many tonight," Kielty said while facing the camera at the close of Friday night's show.
"But, as someone who grew up during a conflict where the rights and wrongs of politics were always writ large, one common truth was that the hurt and the pain on both sides was sadly the same.
"We all shared something, but we just didn’t realize it at the time and there were days when we thought it would never end.
"Tonight, there are many parents and children in Israel and in Gaza who also think this will never end and are praying for a miracle that will make it stop.
"In the midst of despair, miracles are hard to believe in but it’s worth remembering that we are currently living our own miracle on this island because we are living in peace.
"And for all those in Israel and Palestine tonight, it mightn’t seem like it but there is always hope and we hope that your miracle comes soon."
Kielty also offered his condolences to the family of Kim Damti, an Irish-Israeli citizen who was killed by Hamas militants at the Supernova music festival in Re'im, southern Israel, on Saturday morning.
He also offered condolences to "all the families whose lives this week have been ripped apart in Israel and Palestine."
“We are currently living in our own miracle”#LateLate pic.twitter.com/yOLyhVd8iM
— The Late Late Show (@RTELateLateShow) October 14, 2023
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