RTÉ responds to Patrick Kielty criticism from Irish Jewish Group

It follows his conversation with Boy George on Friday's Late Late Show.

The national broadcaster issued a statement defending the host and his handling of an interview with musician Boy George.

During the interview, Kielty asked Boy George about being nearby on the day two Jewish people were attacked in London, which Kielty dubbed 'horrific'.

Boy George revealed he has had a lot of 'abuse online' for supporting of his Jewish friends.

“For me personally growing up I had so many beautiful Jewish friends and I still have, and being asked to turn against a whole race of people is just not acceptable to me,” the singer said.

The Culture Club star went on to highlight his relationship with Jewish people, adding that 'if you don’t know any Jewish people maybe that’s the problem'.

He then turned to the audience and asked: "Do you know any Jewish people?”.

“Look at the quiet, so weird, as a country that’s had a lot of pain, we should know what that feels like,” he responded.

“I know, I know, it’s that idea that you need to learn from the past and try to do different," said Kielty.

Holocaust Awareness Ireland, a group founded by the son of a Holocaust survivor, stated that Kielty had shown a 'singular lack of empathy when speaking about Jews'.

The group questioned if Kielty had been 'corrupted' by the 'RTÉ hive mind where the narrative around the issue of Israel and Jews is disturbingly unbalanced?'.

In a statement yesterday by RTÉ, they agreed that Kielty had said that the attacks took place against the backdrop of the horrors in Gaza, but at no point said 'that there was any justification for the attacks whatsoever'.

On Wednesday, April 29, two Jewish men, Shloime Rand and Moshe Shine, were stabbed in Golders Green in London, which was declared as a terror incident by British police. 

The victims have since been discharged from hospital after sustaining serious injuries.

45-year-old Essa Suleiman has since in relation to the attack on three charges of attempted murder.