Ryan Tubridy said he felt ‘shell shocked’ as he paid tribute to those who lost their lives and loved ones in the Creeslough tragedy.
The Late Late Show host was preparing for the live show as news of the devastating story in Co. Donegal unfolded on Friday evening.
Taking to the airwaves on Monday morning, Ryan explained that they made a last minute decision to alter the show near the end to discuss the tragic story.
Read more: Daniel O’Donnell urges those affected by Creeslough tragedy to seek help
He explained: "We became aware of the details as we were working away over on TV on Friday evening. And then obviously, by the time we got to 11pm we realised that this was truly a catastrophe in Donegal.
"At that point, three people had been reported as fatalities, to have died.”
"So quickly, we asked our last guest Luke O'Neill if he wouldn't mind awfully if we changed the dynamic and nature of the programme. And Eileen Magnier joined us and told us about what was happening."
Speaking on his RTÉ Radio 1 show, the father of two, 49, went on to reflect on the heartbreaking weekend, as the news that ten people had lost their lives emerged.
"I am looking at 10 faces on the front of all the papers I shouldn't be looking at.
“These are 10 people who should be going to school, going to work, having breakfast, picking up their coffee and doing what are considered to be mundane things.
“But increasingly, as we were talking over the weekend with friends, the mundane feels much more beautiful.”
"Shell shock, that is how it feels,” he went on.
“It's like a bomb went off. Of course it wasn’t a bomb, it was an explosion, but it was shell shocking for people and people are still shell shocked, you can hear it on the radio and you can see it on TV. Of course they are, it just happened.
“They are shell shocked by the number of victims and their ages. They are shell shocked by the randomness of it."
“Unimaginable is the word I would use,” he went on.
"You think of the little girl who went in to buy an icecream and the little girl who went in to buy a cake for her mother.
“It is unimaginable. The magnitude of the grief these families are going through is unimaginable.
"The bleakness of the future for these families is unimaginable now. They will have to get on with life, of course they will. But it doesn't feel like it is possible to fathom any of it.
“The number of funerals that will have to take place this week in Donegal is unimaginable. It is all those empty chairs at the kitchen table and watching TV tonight, and desks where friends and colleagues are expecting to see these people arriving today.”
Ryan revealed he was contacted by a woman from the area who revealed her husband narrowly escaped the explosion.
He said: "A woman got in touch with me on Instagram last night to say her husband was the last man out of the station and got home.
"He closed the door and the explosion happened. Random. But he is here for breakfast.
"It's just unfathomable. And people are shell shocked about how utterly changed their lives are and their families.”
"That truly changed the nature of our weekend and the sense of the mood of the island. It has been a tough few years for everybody. Let’s face it.
“Speaking to people over the weekend in different contexts and there’s just the sense that we have a lot of troubles and we have seen a lot of difficulties.
“Even before what happened in Donegal, I think people are a bit discombobulated and I think our nerves are frayed. And this is a time where we need to be very strong."
He went on to encourage others to find comfort in the feeling of ‘hope’ during the dark time.
“It is probably the most important word because that is what we have to cling to really.
"And you get hope when you see the kindness of the community don’t you. And you get hope when you see people handing out coffee and sandwiches and no charge.”
"And you get hope when you hear stories of people working all through the night with diggers and their bare hands to find some hope amongst the rubble."
As he sent condolences and love to the families, he continued: "I think it is fair to say that we are all, as Irish people, standing with you in every way imaginable."
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