A Comment About Coppers And “Country People” Caused A Bit Of A Stir On Last Night’s ‘Late Late’

James Fenton

Ryan Tubridy was a busy man last night as the The Late Late Show returned to our screens after the summer break. Between hosting Piers Morgan, the Ireland Women’s Hockey Team and the victorious Limerick hurlers (as well as one of their superfans) Tubs hardly had time to breathe.

Another guest was Irish Paralympic swimming legend Ellen Keane who won a gold and a bronze medal at the World Para Swimming European Championships held in Ireland last month. A segment celebrating her achievements went down well with the audience, although a minor slip of the tongue appears to have landed Ellen in hot water with people on Twitter.

When asked by Ryan if she did what most sporting high achievers do by celebrating in Coppers on Harcourt Street, Ellen responded with “We didn’t go there on purpose, because it was where all the country folk would be.”

Uh oh. Of course, it didn’t take long for people to air their views on the comment on social media.

@RTELateLateShow we purposely didn’t go there because that’s where the country people were… you are some dose Ellen Keane!! #notarolemodel #LateLate

— Colette O’Halloran (@Coletty8) September 7, 2018

Ahh the good old D4 ignorance of life outside of their little bubble “country people”. ???? #latelate

— Bill Whelan (@iambill84) September 7, 2018

What’s Ellen Keanes issue with people from the country #latelate

— Tracey Walker (@traceywalker82) September 7, 2018

First Ellen said that she knew she was going to win a gold medal and then proceeded to say she didn’t go to coppers to avoid the “country people” okayyyy then #LateLateShow

— Niamh (@RealNiamhNolan) September 7, 2018

Ellen has since apologised for the comment, explaining that on the night in question Coppers was packed after the All-Ireland Hurling Final and ‘a packed coppers is no fun for a bunch of wheelchair users.’

I’m sorry if I offended anyone with my ‘country folk’ comment last night on #thelateshow I got caught off guard with the question. Coppers was packed because of the match and a packed coppers is no fun for a bunch of wheelchair users. Hope you can forgive me x

— Ellen Keane (@keane_ellen) September 8, 2018

Other Twitter users have now come to Ellen’s defence…

To be fair, we’ve all had a bit of a “whoops” moment after saying something but most of us have the luxury of not being on live TV. Fair play to Ellen for clearing her comment up.