RTE Liveline listeners were shocked as they listened live to a priest dousing the Russian Embassy gates in red paint.
Father Fergal MacDonagh went to the Russian Embassy this afternoon with a tin of red paint before ringing in to Joe Duffy live on RTE Radio 1.
The priest claimed his actions were his way of letting Ukrainians know that he supports them during Russia's ongoing invasion.
He said while on air: "I'm outside the gates of the Russian Embassy in Dublin.
"I'm about to throw paint at it. I won't be the first and I won't be the last. I'm going to do it now. I'm trying to not spill it."
The man went silent for a few seconds as a horn noise could be heard in the background.
He spoke to Joe again to inform him that he had done it.
"I threw the empty tin of paint on the driveway," he added.
"I'm furious at what is happening. There were children being born in bomb shelters."
When Joe told him that he could be charged with criminal damage, he said "So be it".
He also said that we should "burn" the embassy.
Before he hung up, a person could be heard in the background asking him to get off the phone so they could take his details.
The reaction online was varied.
One person tweeted: "It’s still criminal damage."
While another said: "The old prison chaplain throwing red paint at the Russian embassy live on air isn't what i was expecting from Joe Duffy this afternoon."
And a third joked: "That'll be one 5 hail Mary's and one Our Father! Good on him!"
Gardai confirmed they are investigating "an incident of criminal damage that occurred at a premises on Friday, March 4 2022 at approximately 13:55pm on the Orwell Road, Rathgar".
"No arrests have been made and investigations are ongoing," they added.
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