Ryan Tubridy offers ‘clarification’ on Greta Thunberg comments

"It came from the heart."

Ryan Tubridy has offered "clarification" on his comments about Greta Thunberg. The RTÉ presenter said yesterday morning on his Radio One show that he felt "uncomfortable" watching the news when the 16-year-old was addressing the UN about climate change. “Her face contorted in pain, in agony and in anxiety," he said. "I was watching her and not thinking about the climate (...) It’s not good for her mental health or her wellbeing.” Tubridy also referenced Thunberg's Asperger's diagnosis and said that he worried about her mental health and well-being. He also said that she should "brought home" to "watch a movie." The presenter has since offered clarification on his comments following the backlash he received. He said that his comments “seemed to have caused a lot of upset to some people" and that he wanted to avoid "confusion" around what he had said. “What I'd said in regards to Greta - and this isn’t a defence or an apology, it’s just a clarification - it came from the heart,” he said on today's show. "In relation to these comments I made about Greta Thunberg’s speech to the United Nations, I think there might have been confusion about a pairing of Asperger’s Syndrome as a mental illness. "But that wasn’t the case or what was intended at all." Tubridy added that he has since spoken to a mother of a child with Asperger's Syndrome and that she was not offended by his comments. He also said that he supports climate change activists and young people's involvement in politics. This comes after Thunberg was awarded the 'Alternative Nobel' award for her work in climate change activism. The Swedish activist received the award today following last week's incredibly successful FridaysForFuture global strikes.  Thunberg said she was "deeply grateful" to receive the award.