High Noon with George Hook.

Calhoun · 16-09-2017 11:53PM

applehunter wrote: »

All this focus on Newstalk's lack of female presenters.

This needs to be refined again.

It is the lack of "right minded" female presenters.

This was one of the real reasons for all the noise on this, there was a definite axe to grind over this.

I think they need to rethink how they do things at newstalk, they seem to pick up amateurs looking to learn rather than professionals. Sometimes it works out for them and they adapt well to it allot of the time it doesnt

Case in point Ciara Kelly is a Doctor by trade and doesn't have the same finesse or skill as many of presenters male or female that RTE have. As i said already the seem to either train them really bad or put them into a default position to being in allot of their own opinion and bias.

Nekarsulm · 17-09-2017 12:10AM

Ciara Kelly was just a foil to Georges wild flights of medical fancy. He would throw in some statement about tying a rag around your toe to cure gout, as long as the rag was dipped in holy water (or some such theory) and she could give a sensible course of action.
That's a nice ploy to keep people listening,but its not enough to make someone a stand alone broadcaster.

If George championed her as much as is reported, then he must be feeling pretty sorry for his choice of friend/colleague/associate right now.

Ursus Horribilis · 17-09-2017 12:35AM

Calhoun wrote: »

I think they need to rethink how they do things at newstalk, they seem to pick up amateurs looking to learn rather than professionals. Sometimes it works out for them and they adapt well to it a lot of the time it doesn't

That's very true. Would the likes of Ivan Yates, Bobby Kerr, Dil Wickremasinghe or Dr Ciara Kelly have been let near a microphone back in the old days? Or George Hook for the matter. He really lucked out when someone decided that the cantankerous old rugby analyst would work as a radio presenter.

Although I'm a woman and would like to hear more female voices on the wireless, I'm certainly not interested in having them there just because of their gender. If the best they can come up with is Dil and Dr. Ciara, then god help us all.

Calhoun · 17-09-2017 01:45AM

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

That's very true. Would the likes of Ivan Yates, Bobby Kerr, Dil Wickremasinghe or Dr Ciara Kelly have been let near a microphone back in the old days? Or George Hook for the matter. He really lucked out when someone decided that the cantankerous old rugby analyst would work as a radio presenter.

Although I'm a woman and would like to hear more female voices on the wireless, I'm certainly not interested in having them there just because of their gender. If the best they can come up with is Dil and Dr. Ciara, then god help us all.

More than likely people will disagree with me on this but when you compare say Marie Wilson or Pat Kenny and how they interview versus allot at news talk. Its like a predator stalking its prey, they will get the interviewee to do allot of the work themselves.

Both also know when to push it with someone they are interviewing but they always start somewhat neutral. You compare this to even some of newstalks more liked presenters like Donoaghue and he starts from a position of outrage for the most parts.

I think Ivan to an extent was one of their better recent hires because of his political background he is much more adept at talking to the public, compare him to Ciara who speaks to folk like a doctor scolding her patients.

brooke 2 · 17-09-2017 01:52AM

mr_edge_to_you wrote: »

Ciara Kelly?

Why not? She lives in the place these days.

brooke 2 · 17-09-2017 01:58AM

PeterTheNinth wrote: »

Anything from Philip Molloy tonight I wonder.. George got him his gig in Newstalk as well.

Wow! Philip Molloy, Ivan Yates, Ciara Kelly......anyone else who has been 'elevated' by George? I wonder how much pressure he has put on the 'powers that be' over the years when he went to bat for his protégés?

brooke 2 · 17-09-2017 02:13AM

PeterTheNinth wrote: »

Just switched off Ciara Kelly there again. I'm gonna text in and say that I'm a pensioner who was attacked during the week, and ask what should I do about this knife sticking out of my back.

Brilliant!

brooke 2 · 17-09-2017 02:16AM

PeterTheNinth wrote: »

Marion Finucane talking about it now.

I don't f**king believe it, Ciara Kelly is on with Marion talking about it now...

Took her this long to speak out in support of her much esteemed mentor.
All that straddling of the fence must be giving her a very sore arse! :mad:

brooke 2 · 17-09-2017 02:29AM

PeterTheNinth wrote: »

Self serving boll*xology... She just wants the audience to know that she didn't sign the petition, and she's batting for the station with a view to them reciprocating with a nice spot on the Prime Time schedule.

Where was this statement earlier about how good he is to women and what a decent guy he is, when he was still in his job and needed some support? He's gone now, and she has his job....

Exactly. Why wasn't she out of the traps as fast as Pat Kenny was in supporting Hook? She is so shamelessly self serving - it was sickening to listen to her. When MF asked her if she would like GH to return to NT, she could not answer. Hope she is the next one to go. Without Hook she would have no slots on NT.

brooke 2 · 17-09-2017 02:31AM

statesaver wrote: »

Please don't tell me Clara Kelly is going to get his slot now.

Ah Christ

Does ANYONE like Ciara Kelly?

everlast75 · 17-09-2017 02:40AM

brooke 2 wrote: »

Does ANYONE like Ciara Kelly?

Ciara Kelly certainly does!

brooke 2 · 17-09-2017 02:44AM

kazamo wrote: »

Ciara Kelly moving in nicely into Hook's midday slot.
Will be there on Monday and we'll see from there....yeah right, the deal has been done.

That coupled with Yates talking yesterday about HR and legal teams involved makes it sound as if Hook is gone from Newstalk.

It will be interesting to see what the numbers will be like? Count me out! :mad:

brooke 2 · 17-09-2017 02:50AM

PeterTheNinth wrote: »

He needed this earlier in the week. A statement from a respected female friend and fellow NT broadcaster that he is a decent guy. This would have helped counter the feminist/liberal mob that was coming after him. It was easier for her, and better for her own career, to stand back and say nothing.

He's gone now so what she said makes absolutely no difference. Doing it now is simply saving face for herself, against all the accusations that she knifed him in the back. Which is exactly which she did, by remaining silent as all her fellow liberals circled over George's carcas.

She hung him out to dry. Did not want to alienate any of her feminist friends. Now he's suspended and looking like he is out the door, deed is done, so, she
speaks up for him. Hypocrite!

brooke 2 · 17-09-2017 02:57AM

Nekarsulm wrote: »

Ciarian Cuddihy. Lets see how he gets on, could take the slot if he is half decent.

Ciarán Cuddihy is good. Has a very good voice. Seems to be a nice guy too.

meeeeh · 17-09-2017 08:16AM

brooke 2 wrote: »

Does ANYONE like Ciara Kelly?

I do. Of all the Newstalk presenters she would be probably the closest to my worldview. I have absolutely no problem if she replaces Hook, I thought Hook having to go was wrong but I welcome a presenter who is not the same type of presenter as two or three others during the day.

Snake Plisken · 17-09-2017 08:57AM

Anyone got the Indo this morning? I can see the front page of it on Facebook but Brendan O'Connor has a piece called "Is silencing George Hook the best answer?", I would hope it would be somewhat supportive of George seeing as George has appeared on his show a few times. Anyone read it yet?

17-09-2017 09:22AM

I'm sickened by this witch hunt and massive campaign of public bullying.

Especially when you consider that it's target is a man who, long before it was considered media savvy, spoke at length about is continued and severe battle with depression, will they only be satisfied with him committing suicide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xVBwdJ-EHw

I'll tell you one thing; around 2010 hearing this bombastic, abrasive, apparently confident and invulnerable man lay it all out in the open on air made me pull over my car and just cry (and I mean cry). That man was the trigger for me to get help myself and I will always owe him for that.

So I am intimately knowledgeable about how "just words on the radio" can affect someone but I refuse to castigate someone for a bad choice of words, when saying the same message I've given friends and family (and received from others) of "be careful tonight, you don't know who you'll come across"

PeterTheNinth · 17-09-2017 11:25AM

I think that example of the vaccine is a perfect example that what is more important to the media is WHO makes a statement not WHAT is said. George Hook questions the vaccine, he is lambasted and called irresponsible.. Dil questions the vaccine and nothing is said...

There was another example of this last year which really infuriated me, because I thought that Martin O'Neill got treated really unfairly by NT and OTB in particular. Martin O'Neill was vilified when he made a silly "queer" remark at a live interview with TodayFM, for which he immediately apologised. OTB was still commenting on this in interviews I heard this year. They would not let it drop, even though an apology had been made.

Ali Selim, the head of the Mosque in Clonskeagh, was on with Ray D'Arcy earlier this year and said that if a Muslim man was gay then he was committing a sin and should "give it up". Absolutely NOTHING as said by Newstalk.. Nothing... Where was Colm O'Gorman that day? Where was Dil?? could you just imagine if George Hook had said that being gay was a sin?

This is the interview (called Ramadan)
http://www.rte.ie/radio1/ray/programmes/2016/0608/794117-ray-darcy-wednesday-8-june-2016/?clipid=2199614

constitutionus · 17-09-2017 11:28AM

brooke 2 wrote: »

Ciarán Cuddihy is good. Has a very good voice. Seems to be a nice guy too.

which is a rarity in newstalk. Faaaar too many of their presenters are the type you'd run a mile from. as the yanks put it "you wouldnt have a beer with them"

for the life of me i dont know why he and coleman arent presenting the breakfast show. they worked very well together when fitzpatrick fecked off to TV3.

i'd be back in a second with that line up but as long as williams is there i wont be.

on topic the Sindo is now saying hooks gone and the talk with the lawyers is all about a settlement to get them out of his contract. if thats true then i look foreward to the JLNRS in a year time showing the exodus of his listeners. particularly if that little shyte donogue gets his gig longterm.

the least thing newstalk will have to worry about then is tescos.

PeterTheNinth · 17-09-2017 11:43AM

Chris Donoghue says he will be discussing Hook next on his show.

Conservative · 17-09-2017 11:49AM

Underwhelming but safe to say George is toast.

I tuned out after 15 year olds and "Rape culture" was mentioned.

Seemed to be done about 30 secs later.

PeterTheNinth · 17-09-2017 12:04PM

So Kitty Holland basically describes the dystopian school that her daughter goes to as essentially a breeding ground for young rapists. On what evidence? The anecdotal stories of a few teenage boys. And these anecdotal stories are then what we should use to put George Hook's comments in to context. I really hope that she gets more reliable sources for her other stories. Of course Chris Donoghue wouldn't be brave enough to maybe challenge those comments?

I'd say the principal of that secondary school will have a few challenging questions for Kitty Holland though. Surely the correct action for Katie Holland would have been to report the plethora of anecdotal sexual assaults to the Gardaí and teachers, and pull her daughter out of the school?

__

retro:electro · 17-09-2017 12:08PM

I'd find Kitty's comments quite offensive, actually. What a lovely way to describe a school which mothers and fathers send their children to.

constitutionus · 17-09-2017 12:23PM

anna080 wrote: »

I'd find Kitty's comments quite offensive, actually. What a lovely way to describe a school which mothers and fathers send their children to.

whats the odds she pays a pretty penny for the trouble too?

she can always relocate her tyke to neilstown secondary school.

no prob with rapes but she might get shot picking her up afer school.

PeterTheNinth · 17-09-2017 12:28PM

constitutionus wrote: »

whats the odds she pays a pretty penny for the trouble too?

I would say she's created some sh1t storm for her daughter and her friend tomorrow as well. I hope her friend wasn't prone to exaggeration. The school could force the station to publish an apology, as those comments could cause the school huge reputational damage.. Particularly if it's a private school.

retro:electro · 17-09-2017 12:30PM

PeterTheNinth wrote: »

I would say she's created some sh1t storm for her daughter and her friend tomorrow as well. I hope her friend wasn't prone to exaggeration. The school could force RTE to publish an apology, as those comments could cause the school huge reputational damage.. Particularly if it's a private school.

What exactly did she say?

PeterTheNinth · 17-09-2017 12:35PM

anna080 wrote: »

What exactly did she say?

ehhh.. maybe I shouldn't paraphrase.. I'll check it later on the podcast. But the jist she said that a few of the boys in the school had said to her daughter that they had all got drunk and had sex with the same girl. She referred to there being a rape "culture" in Ireland. She also said that it was an everyday occurrence that a girl would be walking down the corridor and one of the boys would touch her breasts.

I'd say the principal was choking on his croissant this morning.

The Rape of Lucretia · 17-09-2017 01:03PM

PeterTheNinth wrote: »

But the jist she said that a few of the boys in the school had said to her daughter that they had all got drunk and had sex with the same girl. She referred to there being a rape "culture" in Ireland.

Hardly breaking news. Rape has been part of society since time immemorial.

Before 'rape culture' there was simply culture and humanity for which rape was just part of the landscape. Women have always had to guard against it. Society has always been semi or fully aware of it and both condemned and condoned it at the same time.

The identification of it as a particularity 'rape culture' is only a very modern term, identifying it specifically in order to highlight it, decry it, and prevent it. That it is now universally condemned in some countries does not mean that because it should not happen, it will not happen.

But it is still prevalent - and George was perfectly right to note, slightly clumsily considering the touchiness of some but thats their fault rather than his, that despite it having a high visibility movement to reduce it, being indeed still a risk, women must still be prudent.

nc6000 · 17-09-2017 02:07PM

Conservative wrote: »

I'd say Dil is still upset that George made a fool of her the last time she appeared on High Noon.

She was on to talk about that gender neutral crap and how children shouldn't be labelled until they are old enough to do it themselves. She then went on to call her infant child "he". Old Georgie was having none of it!!

Judging by this and the papers today, it looks like a lot of people have an axe to grind with Hook and are using this as an excuse to settle some old scores.

Conservative · 17-09-2017 02:18PM

nc6000 wrote: »

Conservative wrote: »

I'd say Dil is still upset that George made a fool of her the last time she appeared on High Noon.

She was on to talk about that gender neutral crap and how children shouldn't be labelled until they are old enough to do it themselves. She then went on to call her infant child "he". Old Georgie was having none of it!!

Judging by the this and the papers today, it looks like a lot of people have an axe to grind with Hook and are using this as an excuse to settle some old scores.

It sounded like it from some of the articles that were quoted this morning. One was an ex-RTE rugby producer?

I'm sure he has upset many of the drama queens that dominate Irish media.

Plenty of professional jealousy also I'd imagine. Many are earning peanuts while George was being paid handsomely to stay on air at 76.

I doubt a lot of them ever look in the mirror as why this is. Paint watches them dry!

High Noon with George Hook.

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