Northern exposure

Paddy says his accent will be 'bit strange' for RTE viewers

- CLAUDIA SAVAGE and KATIE GALLAGHER PATRICK

>> Previous host Tubs sends good luck message as season kicks off

Kielty has said "it's going to be strange" to hear a Northern accent as he prepares to host The Late Late Show for the first time.

The comedian and presenter also revealed he had received a message from predecessor Ryan Tubridy ahead of his debut episode this evening.

Kielty, 52, is the fourth regular host in the run of iconic chat show, following in the footsteps of Gay Byrne, Pat Kenny and Tubridy.

Originally from Dundrum in Co Down, he is the first host to hail from the North.

Kielty said he was not feeling any animosity on being from across the border, and that he has been welcomed into his new role.

He added: "I think it's going to be fun. It's going to be a bit strange for people up the road to hear the Co Down accent on the show.

"I think what's interesting is sometimes we talk these things up even more, I think that if you look at all of the identities that we have on this island at the minute, and the progress that we've made, I don't see it as a thing.

WELCOME

"And I think that the welcome that I've had coming into this building, it's certainly not a thing down here." Kielty said that in his tenure on the show, he would not shy away from difficult discussions.

He added: "I think the only way you can have a difficult conversation is to be honest and not to judge.

"Whenever I was doing my documentaries, and visiting the bonfires, and I think with all conversations, you go in and try to see who the human being is you're talking to and why they feel, the way they're talking, what their position is, and I think that's at the heart of it.

"And I hope any conversation that I'll have on the show that I'm hosting, I'll hopefully bring those skills to it."