The son of former President, Mary McAleese has revealed he struggled growing up as a gay man in Ireland.

It comes just days after she called for a YES vote in the upcoming referendum on same-sex marriage.

In a moving piece in today’s Irish Independent, Justin McAleese admits he was "on the verge of coming out" when friends laughed and joked about two men getting married.

The 30-year-old explained: “I was eight years of age then and was presumed heterosexual. My family didn't know that I was gay (neither did I) and had no idea of the positive, life-changing impact that decriminalisation would have on my life.”

“At 14 I couldn't tell anyone that I suspected I might be gay because society didn't let me.”

He further revealed the “panic” at being asked directly if he was gay and was “on the verge of coming out” in his second year in UCD.

Detailing his struggles, the Ryanair executive also called for a YES vote on May 22, adding: “We can't do anything about the past, but we have the opportunity to change this for young children being born in Ireland today."

In an exclusive interview with The Right Hook last Wednesday, his mother, Ms McAleese urged: "It is a debate about children, people have been saying it’s about children - and we believe it to be about Ireland’s gay children and about their future and about the kind of future we want for Ireland. We want, in the words of the proclamation: ‘The children of a nation to be cherished equally’.

“The adult children, the children yet unborn, the gay children yet unborn - we want them to be born into a world where if they fall in love with someone they can express that love fully.”

Now, her son has revealed a friend was able to “use the institution of marriage to belittle” his existence.

He added: “My dreams and my ambitions. And the sad thing was that other people went along with it and didn't challenge that view. So I stayed in the closet for another 18 months. Language matters, words matter, marriage matters.”