Ryan Tubridy has slammed Twitter trolls for targeting one of his young The Late Late Show guests.

On Friday night, Hughie Malone (11) appeared on The Late Late Show as part of a discussion on autism.

He was one of the young stars of RTE's documentary, Autism and Me, which explored the spectrum of autism through the experiences of young people.

Hughie Malone shared his story and advised the audience on how people with autism should be treated.

When host Ryan Tubridy asked the youngster what he wanted to do when he grows up, he replied: "Driving planes into skyscrapers."

Twitter trolls took to the social media app to mock the child but their comments were met with anger from most.

Expand Close Hughie Malone appears on The Late Late Show with Adam Harris and Niamh Biddulph / Facebook

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Ryan Tubridy addressed the comments on his Radio One show on Monday morning.

He explained that Hughie's remarks "very much illustrated by where he's at with autism".

He reminded listeners that Hughie has a huge interest in history and through his comments audiences got a "sense of what it meant when he was going off in a tangent."

He called out the Twitter trolls for being "foolish and cruel".

"When it comes to an 11-year-old child you can't leave it," he said. "It's disgusting. It's appalling. It's bullying.

He added: "If you're an adult and you're typing on your keyboard, being mean to a child, you need to have a look at yourself."

Fine Gael councillor Brian Murphy was also slammed by social media users for his remarks.

On Friday he tweeted: “Some kid on Late Late Show just said he wants to fly planes into buildings when he grows up #LateLateShow”

He later explained his comments were a result of him feeling "depressed" because Ireland lost to Wales during the Six Nations game on Friday.

Online Editors