44 thoughts on “De Wednesday Papers

    1. Harry Molloy

      I hope he does his show. He’s a bit of a knob like, and what he said was stupid, but I don’t like the precedent that people lose their jobs for saying something stupid rather than helping them learn from it.

      1. Harry Molloy

        it’s worth remembering this guy is nearly 80 too and the conflict of generations is hardly a new phenomenon.

        1. Milo

          True. But the bosses will be worried about the brand and the bottom line. It takes a lot of principle to overtake profit, And with the mob baying at the gates, guests saying they wont appear and the staff hurting from the publicity, Id say they will act today.

      2. Harry Molloy

        read this comment on another site on my commute and it sums it up for me :

        “I worked abroad for a number of years a long time ago. It was in a Northern European country famed for its tolerance and openness.

        When we were there a while, we began to realise that the place was not what we thought – the tolerance and openness was really a mask they used for foreigners.

        In reality, they were uncaring about others, highly rules oriented to the point of callousness and completely lacking in empathy.

        When we came home to Ireland, we were delighted. Although the place was an unorganised mess in many aspects, the people on the whole were kind, forgiving, helpful, generous and mild. We fell in love with our own people again.

        I fear this is gone. George Hook was trying to make a point about being careful and not putting yourself in harms way. Okay, he was a bit cack handed in his language but we all know what he meant and it was a fair point. But a nasty edit of his speech can make him look bad.

        I cannot believe how people can be calling for the man to lose his livelihood, his reputation and his legacy over this.

        I have not been so ashamed to be Irish for a long time. Worried times ahead folks.

        We are losing the essence of our culture and what truly makes us great as a nation.”

        1. Milo

          Yes. He got hung on the subtlety between blame and responsibility. You simply cannot attach blame, while it is understandable to explore the issue of responsibility. Newstalk will put the station ahead of a presenter. Cant be nice for George. Not a nice way to go.

          1. A snowflake's chance in hell

            What the actual fupp are the pair of you blathering on about? What business DOESN’T put the bottom line ahead of other considerations? If listeners turn off because of George, he will go, if the publicity attracts more listeners, he’s going to stay. The staff have nothing whatsoever to do it with it, and the fact that not one of them had the cojones to resign or send the letter shows where they stand at the end of the day.

            Also – what the fupp are those twits talking about Harry? Is it the kindness and good nature that sees hundreds of dead babies being buried for years in a septic tank? Or the tolerance that sees deadbeat paedophiles being mourned at a vigil? Or how about the Kerry babies? Was it the open hearted nature of that sort of incident they missed? Those pair of fappers should have stayed where they were.

        2. LW

          There’s a certain irony in trying to absolve Hook of blame when he was trying to attribute blame to victims of rape. He said “But is there no blame now to the person who puts themselves in danger?”

          The story that prompted this was the court case in the UK, where a girl went home with one man to have consensual sex. She later woke to find another man having sex with her. The blame for this should surely rest on the rapist

          1. Milo

            I did not think anyone is disputing that. I think people are reacting to the mob mentality that is becoming an increasingly unpleasant part of Irish discourse. One can find fault and empathise with George, it’s not impossible to have conflicting emotions.

            Incidentally, the guy was found not guilty on one charge and no verdict on the other charge. It looks like back to court now which also can’t be pleasant for anyone.

          2. A snowflake's chance in hell

            What does it matter whether the guy was found guilty or not Milo?

            Would George’s remarks be kosher if it turns out the guy is found not guilty?

          3. Harry Molloy

            definitely not defending what he said and how he said it.
            it’s the absolutism of it all though, the mobs inability to see good and bad, the dexterity with which they can try to tear someone down and forever label them unclean.
            and make no mistake, anyone is subject to it, Germaine Greer herself is now unclean for example.

          4. LW

            Well what would you propose? A media where anyone can say whatever they want, offer up a fulsome apology the day after, then carry on? I personally don’t think firing him will do any good, as we can see in the microcosm of this comment section, it polarises a lot people in defence of him.
            With regards to absolutism, nobody is suggesting that Hook be executed. The mob, as you refer to them, are probably composed of people who’ve been affected by rape, people close to those who’ve been raped, and people who feel it’s wrong to blame rape victims for being raped. Calling them the mob, imo, subscribes to the same kind of absolutism, seeing them as faceless harpies baying for blood. In reality, just individual people who feel passionately about the issue.

          5. martco

            +1

            can’t stand the man or his personal (or possibly invented- remember his whole purpose is this shock jock text me now revenue stream crapola) – and I can say with certainty there’s a very large section of a certain age who share his views and ideas

            BUT this pitchfork stuff has to be checked

            did anyone hear the wan from SAFE on R1 this morning? she seemed to get full rein and was sticking the boot into Newstalk (and I def ain’t a FGtalk fan trust me) & effectively got to make a call to action on all their sponsors to leave them if they didn’t just sack Hook but also make other adjustments? seemed a bit blackmail on national broadcaster to me…didn’t sit right with me anyways

          6. A snowflake's chance in hell

            Which “mob” are you referring to Harry?

            Are you referring to some people on Twitter or whatever expressing their opinion on a matter of public interest?

            Your phrasing is notable. You conflate a whole group of people as a ‘mob’ invoking sentiments of lynchings and actual physical violence, when in fact what is occurring meanwhile is that a few people who don’t like George are suddenly vocal.

            What I note you don’t refer to however as a ‘mob’ is the cohort of actual rapists committing actual physical violence out there who are enabled and facilitated by George’s victim-blaming.

          7. MoyestWithExcitement

            “Calling them the mob, imo, subscribes to the same kind of absolutism, seeing them as faceless harpies baying for blood. In reality, just individual people who feel passionately about the issue.”

            Excellent. When you can’t rationally defend your position, try and claim the moral highhround by dehumanising your detractors. Old as the hills, that one.

        3. Nigel

          Meh. If it comes to people losing their livelihood I’d be more concerned about, say, those cleaners at that school than George flippin Hook.

          1. Nigel

            Is the principle that your job can be to be opinionated cranky and provocative on the national airwaves but not lose your job when you screw it up badly enough? Is the principle that Hook’s ugly opinions are free speech but the people objecting are a mob?

            Honestly I think the principle here is that people are just sick and tired of him and this may be the proverbial straw.

          2. Milo

            I’m glad you’re concerned for the cleaners Nigel and thanks for making sure we all know that, however, it has little to do with the matter in hand. What George did was wrong, and what it shows about our discourse is increasingly savage.

          3. Milo

            Of course he can. That is why there are broadcasting guidelines, advertising codes, libel and defamation laws. However, the mob do not have the power to remove someone unless the employer agrees.. and given that he is back on air, they seem to be trying to see if they can weather the storm. Opinion is not law, no matter how much some think it is so! The church has gone thank God…

          4. Nigel

            Nbody’s saying it is. But it’s interesting to see how much noise has to be made and by whom and how many in order to be heard and have an effect.

          5. Milo

            You are right. So much noise. I think a lot of people are looking at how effective or not their communication is now.

          6. MoyestWithExcitement

            “it’s the principle though? innit”

            Yes. Let’s all take this chance to donate to The Talk Show Host Trust so as any talk show hosts who find themselves on hard times in the future because of the consequences of this, will at least have some help to get them back on their feet.

        4. Brother Barnabas

          I’m not sure how I feel now knowing you post comments on other sites, Harry. When did this start? And why do you feel the need to do that?

          1. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

            Huh? Didn’t Harry quote someone else from another site? He just said he read it, not that he posted anything.
            Or am I getting this arse-ways?

          2. Harry Molloy

            I post with other people all the time. I posted with three different people last night and was in a group post the week before last.

          3. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

            Durty stop-out.

            Though of course I mean nothing by that and apologise unreservedly in advance.

  1. EightersGonnaEight

    What George Hook said was wrong. But why should he forfeit his job or be fired for it? That the ageist snowflake millennial horde are baying for this kind of revenge says it all about their mean-spiritedness and sense of perspective. The man has a constitutional right to follow his career of choice. What forfeiting your pension and salary is going to change beats me. These whingers will be calling for a prohibition on mortgages for anyone expressing anything they don’t like whether it is actually the case or not.

    I’d bet if NT offered one of these pussie-eared half-bakes a job they’d jump at it.

    1. Jesus Wept

      I suppose when your job is expressing your ideas to so many people over the radio then his career choice amplifies his ‘view’.Don’t get me wrong I think he should have been fired for being crap long time before this current brouhaha.

  2. newsjustin

    I’m not jealous or bitter…..really.

    But I’d love to know how wealthy that Argentinian family touring around the world in a car are.

    1. Nigel

      I’m curious about what sorts of neurotic familial dysfunctions bubble under the cheery freewheeling surface.

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