Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Dublin Live
Dublin Live
National
Dan Grennan

RTE Liveline listeners hear tearful Dublin mum plead with son not to go to war-torn Ukraine


An Irish mother pleaded with her son live on radio not to travel to Ukraine to provide aid to war-torn locals.

Luke plans to travel to Poland in the morning where he will meet a group aid workers who plan to travel across the Ukrainian border to help out anyone they can.

The 23-year-old's mother called Joe Duffy's Liveline to plead with her son not to travel to the Ukraine-Russian war.

Read more: Man crashed truck into gates of Russian embassy in Dublin after seeing pictures of family killed in Ukraine

Anne said: "My son is 23 and he is heading out to Poland in the morning. He said he is going with an Aid group with a couple of his friends and they are heading over the help with the aid relief.

"My worry is he will end up in one of these militia groups.

Anne said: "I want him to stay safe. I want my son not to go because it is a volatile time to go there."

Luke has no military experience and is flying with his friends who are of a similar age.

On the second day of the invasion of Ukraine, Luke's friend texted him and asked him would he go over and help out anyway they can. He said he would.

Luke said: "I want to go because I can't just watch this on Instagram or on the news and say isn't that terrible. Why wait for trouble to come to your doorstep. Those are people that don't deserve to have their country invaded like this.

Luke said he would not pick up a gun even if he was corned by Russians.

He said: "I am not going over there for any hate of Russians or any fear of them. I don't blame the men on the ground for this happening.

"I am going over there because I am seeing houses being destroyed and people being displaced and I just want to help. I am sick of looking at the misery and not doing anything about it."

Anne made a heartbreaking plea to stay, saying his family want to see him "grow up".

She said: "You said you are not really anything really there but you are my son. We love you and we have done everything, you have got college, you have got your driving test coming up, you have got a life here and people who love you and want to see you grow up."

The heartbroken mother pleaded with her son to instead go when the war is over and they need to rebuild the country. She said his dad would teach him how to build things and give him money for the journey.

"This is crazy," she added. "Going now is not the time. You are visiting a war. Your dad's heart is broken."

However, Luke was adamant on going as he couldn't stand back and watch as Ukraine is torn apart.

He said: "It doesn't make going any easy and it is hard for myself as well. It is frightening to think that I could be in harms way over there and something bad could happen."

A war veteran joined the call and urged Luke not to go. "It is unimaginable and it will leave you with unimaginable trauma which you will carry with you for the rest of your life", he said.

Read more: Vladimir Putin tested Conor McGregor’s whiskey for poison before drinking it

Read more: Dublin father-daughter duo take in 'traumatised' children from Ukraine

Sign up to the Dublin Live Newsletter to get all the latest news straight into your inbox.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.