Fiona Doyle: I invite George Hook to spend a day with me
AS RADIO SHOW SPONSOR PULLS THE PLUG, ABUSE SURVIVOR OFFERS TO ENLIGHTEN BROADCASTER AFTER HIS SHOCKING RANT
ABUSE survivor Fiona Doyle has invited George Hook to spend the day with her – to educate him on the dangers of his comments about rape victims.
The Newstalk broadcaster has been roundly criticised after asking, on air, if there was no blame for ‘the person who put themselves in danger’.
However, a spokesperson for Newstalk told the Irish Daily Mail yesterday that Hook, 76, is ‘100% scheduled’ to host his High Noon show today .
The station was put under pressure late last night, though, when the sponsors of Hook’s Newstalk show, Clayton Hotels, announced its intention to pull out.
The Dalata Hotel Group, which owns Clayton, tweeted: ‘@Dalatahotels cannot support any radio station that allows inappropriate & hurtful comments to be made.
‘We will be engaging with Newstalk as soon as possible to terminate our commercial relationship.’
And Ms Doyle has appealed to Hook to meet her and learn about the lifelong impact a sex assault has on its victim.
‘I would gladly spend the day with him,’ she told the Mail. ‘If he had the balls, I would gladly enlighten him. Until he realises how damaging his remarks are he shouldn’t be given the freedom to speak his mind.’
She is disappointed he did not appear to have been reprimanded by his employer, adding it was insulting that he would be on the air today.
‘I just think it’s a disgrace that he is not being held accountable by his employers for his remarks. If that was anybody else they would have lost their job. Those remarks have upset so many and he has no idea of how damaging those remarks are. Speak to a victim of rape or abuse because nine times out of ten, we’ve all blamed ourselves. We’ve all done it and I blamed myself, I’ve gone through seven years of counselling to stop blaming myself.’ She added: ‘He is a dinosaur with prehistoric views, he needs to get into the real world.’
Ms Doyle’s father, Patrick O’Brien, was jailed for 12 years, with three years suspended in 2013 for repeated sexual assaults on her between 1973 and 1982.
Hook did not return requests for comment from the Mail yesterday. However, Age Action Ireland, an organisation with close ties to Hook, said: ‘We wouldn’t stand by those comments at all and we wouldn’t support those comments.’
Pat McCann, chief executive of the Dalata Hotel Group, said: ‘George Hook is fundamentally out of touch with reality. I am the father of two daughters and I find those types of comments totally unacceptable.’
Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan described Hook’s remarks as ‘a matter of real concern, given that George Hook holds a position of very high responsibility in public and broadcasting life’.
Newstalk issued an apology
‘We’ve all blamed ourselves’
on behalf of the station and the broadcaster on Saturday, saying: ‘I wish to apologise unreservedly for comments I made about rape on my radio programme on Newstalk yesterday. It was unacceptable to suggest in any way that blame could be attributed to victims of rape. I apologise for the comments which caused hurt and offence, and for this I am truly sorry.’
A Newstalk spokesman yesterday declined to say whether Hook would face any formal sanctions or whether he will apologise on air today.