Newstalk’s George is slinging his Hook at 77
Presents his last show next month
CONTROVERSIAL Newstalk host George Hook has announced he is retiring from the station, after 16 years in front of the microphone.
The 77-year-old grandfather is due to present his last show, Hook’s Saturday Sit In, next month, the station confirmed yesterday. Hook was one of the original line-up when the station received its licence in 2002.
His retirement comes just a week after Breakfast Show co-host Paul Williams announced he was leaving the station, while presenter Tom Dunne issued a statement yesterday saying he was taking time off because of health problems.
In a press release yesterday, the station’s managing editor Patricia Monahan paid tribute to Mr Hook.
‘George has been with Newstalk since we launched in 2002, and in the intervening 16 years has made a great contribution to the station. I would like to take this opportunity to thank him and wish him well in his retirement.’
Opening his show yesterday, Hook’s friend and colleague, Ivan Yates, who presents Newstalk’s The Hard Shoulder, said: ‘I would like to wish him and Ingrid [George’s wife] a long, healthy and happy retirement.
‘I know Ingrid, it’s not going to be easy with George under your feet, but I think he deserves a break,’ Mr Yates said.
He recalled that he was invited to present a show at the station when George took some time off to attend the Galway Races: ‘I said: “I’ve no training”. They said: “Well, when that red light comes on, start talking and when it goes off, stop talking”. I’ve been doing it ever since. So I owe him a debt of gratitude. He has been a mentor and a friend, and I think we need, in our society, contrarian views. On everything, I disagree with him. You can’t but like the old divil, despite everything, and I wish him well.’
Hook stepped down from his popular lunchtime show, High Noon, in September 2017, after he made controversial comments about sexual assault and rape that received widespread condemnation.
He later apologised and was temporarily suspended by the station before being given a weekend slot.
He quit social media and deleted his Twitter account after he received death threats online. In an interview following his return to the station, he said: ‘I’m big and enough and ugly enough to take that. What I have a problem with is the way they attacked my family.’
alison.oreilly@dailymail.ie