Saoirse Ronan hopes viral Graham Norton Show moment will spark discussions about women's safety

ACTOR SAOIRSE RONAN has said she is pleased that her comments on The Graham Norton Show last week have sparked a conversation about women’s safety and experiences with having to think of ways to defend themselves.

Last Friday, Ronan appeared on The Graham Norton Show alongside fellow Irish star Paul Mescal and actors Eddie Redmayne and Denzel Washington.

Speaking about his experience training for the role of an assassin on the television programme The Day of the Jackal, Redmayne explained how he had been taught how to use to the end of his phone as a weapon for self defence.

Mescal then questioned who would think to take out their phone to defend themselves in a self-defence situation, to which Ronan responded: “That’s what girls have to think about all the time. Am I right ladies?”

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Her remarks received a round of applause from the audience in the studio in London and the clip was circulated widely online. Speaking to Ryan Tubridy on Virgin Radio UK this morning, Ronan said she was taken aback by the response to the clip.

“The reaction has been wild. It’s definitely not something that I had expected, and I didn’t necessarily set out to sort of make a splash,” she said.

Ronan said that she has been contacted by many people, both men and women, commending her for her comments and urged listeners to watch the clip in its full context.

She defended claims that Mescal and the other male actors were trying to “debunk” her remarks.

“Paul being one of my very dear friends, I’ve had conversations like that with him before and he completely gets that and completely understands that,” Ronan said, adding that the conversation about similar experiences of women must be discussed openly.

She added: “It’s opening a conversation and hopefully it’s allowing more and more women to just be like: ‘Well, yeah actually – let’s talk about our experience.’

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