Hook and personal responsibility

Sir — I’ve just that George Hook has had to apologise for what he said on his radio show the other week. Having not heard him, but having read what he said, I don’t feel he should have had to apologise for it.

The lady who spoke about being abused by her father, who said that women (or men) should be able to walk down the street, in any clothes, or even naked if they wanted to, is perfectly correct in everything she said.

But now let’s transfer ourselves into the real world, where, in Mr Hook’s words, “scumbags” reside. The real world is where ‘personal responsibility’ enters the arena.

If a person walks down the street with a wad of cash peering out of the top pocket of their coat, somebody may decide they want it and try to take it. Keeping it in your wallet is taking personal responsibility for it.

Likewise, in the real world, people don’t walk down the street naked late at night because they take personal responsibility for their own safety. In the real world, they get a cab home — fully clothed.

I think Mr Hook did what he does every day — and did the people of this country a favour by saying what everyone else is thinking.

Personally, I think the ‘right-on brigade’ (including his so-called colleagues at Newstalk) should be the ones to apologise. Don’t expect that to happen any time soon, though! Pat Duffy, Limerick