Agree or not with George Hook, he has a right to be wrong
WHAT’S an apology worth? George Hook’s head on a plate and a 20-year punditry career down the toilet, it would seem.
The controversial broadcaster, 76, has apologised for ill-judged comments he made about a rape victim on his Newstalk show High Noon, before he was suspended from the station then demoted to a weekend slot.
Following a sustained and vicious campaign on Twitter, Hook issued what I believe was a sincere apology for spectacularly bungling his point about the victim taking “personal responsibility” in a UK rape trial.
Referring to the case in Britain last week in which a Commonwealth Games swimmer was accused of raping a 19-year-old woman, Hook had told listeners: “Is there no blame now to the person who puts themselves in danger?
"The real issues nowadays and increasingly is the question of the personal responsibility that young girls are taking for their own safety.”
Newstalk colleague Chris Donoghue blasted his comments as “disgusting” while former abuse victims described Hook’s remarks as ignorant.
By now we’re all familiar with the nuances of the story.
However, while the Twitterati have had their say, I believe there is so much more being left unsaid by the “liberal left” for fear of being branded Hook apologists.
In the immediate wake of the controversy, I had an interesting conversation with a colleague who told me (in a hushed voice) that he thought everyone was over-reacting.
My colleague was cautious to broadcast this view as it differed from the popular narrative that Hook was a “very, very bad man who deserved to be punished”.
He was probably also trying to gauge my own reaction, being that I am a card-carrying, bra-burning feminist.
But I do agree that everyone needs to put down the burning pitchfork, take a step back and objectively look at this row.
Let me be very clear here, I am not excusing Hook’s victim-blaming.
I found his comments deeply upsetting, out-dated and damaging to the tireless work abuse campaigners have been fighting so hard for.
However, while no one condones Hook’s idiotic remarks, I do believe it was a genuine error of judgement, albeit a monumental one.
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For the record, I usually disagree with Hook’s brusque opinions.
As a 38-year-old mum with leftie-liberal tendencies myself, Hook’s old-man schtick does not sit well with me.
He does not represent my demographic or my gender. But isn’t that the point?
Shouldn’t we be challenged out of our comfort zone once in a while?
Dr Ciara Kelly, who hosts a Saturday morning show on Newstalk, defended Hook and said the public were using the row to “tear his character asunder”.
Pat Kenny, meanwhile, described him as a “decent man”.
He told his listeners: “I listened to his apology and he meant it, he is genuinely contrite... he realises what he said didn’t come out right.”
We talk a lot about freedom of speech these days but what we really mean is speech that fits into a prescribed narrative.
We have a long, dysfunctional relationship with the truth in this country and are barely a generation free from the stranglehold of the far-right Catholic Church.
Do we want a similar situation where today’s leftie guardians of virtue shout down anyone with a different point of view?
Is this not another form of censorship disguised as political correctness?
In our rush to be right-on, we’re in danger of crowding out any dissenting voices that do not conform to the popular opinion of the day.
The Twitter thought police will not allow it and it’s death threats at dawn to anyone who suggests otherwise.
As George Orwell said: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.”
I don’t know about you but I’ll take Orwell’s liberty any day over today’s Twitter mob rule.
Shame on our streets
Six rough sleepers have died in Ireland in less than three weeks
HOW many more people have to die on our streets before the Government steps up?
This week, a 41-year-old homeless man was found dead in his tent in Bray, Co Wicklow.
He’s the sixth rough sleeper to die in the past three weeks, according to Inner City Helping Homeless.
ICHH’s Anthony Flynn said after the tragedy: “We have invited the Minister (Eoghan Murphy) on to the streets with us to witness the homeless crisis for himself but he has refused to do it yet.”
As of June, there were 7,941 people homeless including adults and children with their families.
While the Government has introduced some policies to tackle the problem, the simple fact that people are dying on our streets in 2017 shows how inadequate these policies are.
It was Mahatma Gandhi who said: “A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.”
By that measure, this little nation is in a sorry state of affairs.
Ploughing & the Stars
YOU can keep your Glastonburys and Burning Mans, I’ll take the National Ploughing Championships any day.
Where else could you get a nice cup of tea, a farmer with frontage and your bull semen needs met?
The annual welly fest was THE place to be this year as every Irish celeb rocked up on their Massey Fergusons to sample the delights of Offaly.
I’ve never been to the Championships but I’m beginning to think I may have missed a trick.
My favourite snap of the week was Marty Morrissey joking around with rugby pal Paul O’Connell — and fending off the ladies, no doubt.
Meanwhile, an immaculate looking Leo Varadkar was busy pretending to get stuck in.
A bit like his leadership so far, wha’?!
Big little eyes on Kidman
Nicole Kidman kissing co-star Alexander Skarsgard
NICOLE Kidman’s marriage has come in for some scrutiny this week after her affectionate smooch with co-star Alexander Skarsgard at the Emmys.
The Oscar winner, 50, planted the smacker on Alexander in front of hubby Keith Urban after winning Best Actress for her role as an abused wife in Big Little Lies.
Cue everyone freaking out over it.
I’ve no idea why, as this isn’t the first time she has snogged co-stars after previously locking lips with actresses Elle Fanning and Naomi Watts.
Of course, speculation over an affair is a load of rubbish.
If Nicole and Alexander were really having a fling, they’d be avoiding each other like the plague not snogging the face off each other in front of everyone.
Ryanair's no frills PR policy
SAY what you like about Michael O’Leary but he doesn’t give a fiddlers about bad press.
The mouthy Ryanair chief found himself in hot water this over mass flight cancellations.
In what is possibly the worst PR disaster to befall the budget airline ever, 400,000 bookings could be axed over an admin gaffe with pilots’ holidays.
However, an unrepentant O’Leary insisted: “It’s not my biggest cock-up. I have a litany of cock-ups in Ryanair over the past 25 years.”
You tell ’em, Mikey.