“I will mind them as much as I ever do with everything I’ve got.”
After sharing this he was a victim of a verbal attack while out with his daughter, broadcaster Ryan Tubridy has said that he worries for his children’s safety.
Earlier this week, Ryan told listeners that two young men shouted abuse at him and his daughter Ella while they were out in Dún Laoghaire.
The men “squared up” to them, and called the presenter a homophobic slur and a “paedophile”.
On air, Tubridy said that he was “fed up” with the abuse.
He elaborated on the incident: “I had two things I could do with that, I could stop and ask him why would he do that, or I could keep going and not cause a fuss.
“To be honest, I think I would have let myself down if I didn’t challenge him.
“It was a physical risk because he was a big guy, and if you know me, you know that I’m not one of those, but I was fed up with it – unfortunately on my own doorstep it’s becoming more of a problem with young men in their twenties.”
Since then, Ryan has spoken about the matter further, and said that he worries for his daughters’ safety.
He said: “I worry about my daughters all the time as any father would but no, I’m not going to change my habits just because of two extremely opinionated young men, but I will mind them as much as I ever do with everything I’ve got.”
He continued: “I’ve never felt unsafe in my neighbourhood, living around that part of town for 48 years – essentially all my life.
“But for the first time that did happen this week. But I’m glad to say that I do believe it is a tiny representation of what is actually a very good bunch of people.”
He added that he believes it’s a “broader issue than Dublin”.
