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http://youtu.be/nyx7llUx5GA
(RTENewsNow/YouTube)
A YEAR AGO, Taoiseach Enda Kenny made an emotional address to survivors from the Magdalene laundries in Ireland.
In his speech, Kenny said the government and the citizens of Ireland “deeply regret and apologise unreservedly to all those women for the hurt that was done to them”.
Today, the call has been made for the government to take action on legislation relating to the apology.
Restorative justice
JFM Research called for the State to begin immediate work on the Magdalene Laundries restorative justice scheme earlier this month.
It said that survivors have still not obtained the redress called for by the UN Committee Against Torture, and that it is “gravely concerned” by “unacceptable additional delays”.
Today, JFM Research noted that Minister Alan Shatter confirmed “that less than half the women have got their money, none have got their pensions or health benefits”.
The delays are of deep concern given the age of the women and that many are in declining health. We are aware legislation is pending but needs to be acted on as soon as possible. The women should not have to wait. Many are finding it difficult to engage support in obtaining their records.
They also said that the government’s provision of compensation and benefits “is not a substitute for establishing the truth of what happened in the laundries”.
Contrary to the Minister’s statement, the McAleese Committee only ever established the facts of state involvement. The nuns have not apologised, nor will they contribute to the compensation fund. There can be no restorative justice without an admission of wrongdoing.
Promises
The National Women’s Council said today that it is calling on the State “to deliver on its promises to provide full restorative justice for the surviving women without further delay”.
Rachel Doyle, head of outreach at the NWCI, said one year on from the Taoiseach’s apology, “many of the women are yet to receive a penny”.
Some women have received offer letters detailing their lump sum and weekly payment entitlements, yet this Government has failed to deliver on the promise of pensions and healthcare benefits, as well as all other elements of restorative justice called for by Justice Quirke.
Orla O’Connor, Director of NWCI, described it as “unacceptable” that these women “have still not received the justice called for by the United Nations Commission Against Torture, and promised by the Taoiseach himself”.
Enda Kenny must offer clarity on the status of survivors living outside Ireland and those whose duration of stay records are not available.
The NWCI is now calling on the Taoiseach to put a definitive timeline in place for the passing of legislation “to ensure the State provides these women with the justice they deserve”.
Women survivors whose lives in and outside of the laundries were and continue to be characterised by physical and psychological suffering, poverty and stigma should not have to deal with further suffering brought on by additional delays.
Doyle noted that at least three survivors have died and two others have experienced repeated hospitalisations in the year since the apology. “Full justice must be delivered to these women as a matter of urgency,” she said.
Earlier this month, Sinn Féin’s deputy leader Mary Lou McDonald called on the Justice Minister Alan Shatter to clarify when legislation will be introduced to provide health services to the Magdalene survivors.
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The sooner hook is back the better, he should never have been removed from the airwaves in the first place….. already 2018 looking good!!!
@Johnnie Sexton: Totally agree!
@Johnnie Sexton: agree
@billy Dorney:ah the permanently outraged will have to find something else to be shocked about before xmas so….I’m thinking maybe Garda Bands or men having pints watching football in pubs or something ….
@Pizyco: wafff wafff wafff wafff wafff… exactly how he talks.
Couldn’t give a poo about the controversy, but his voice always went through me
Hook is a disgrace and the reason men have a bad name! Just shows what a terrible radio station Newstalk is by not sacking him!
@Johnnie Sexton: looking back at 2017- George was kicked out due to advertising & PC pressure – not Ireland’s finest moment
@Johnnie Sexton: well his show won’t be live it will be pre recorded. This is a good way to keep him in line . No more controversy from Hook.
@Whoswho: a bad name? You blithering idiot.
@Pizyco: ha ha, v good
@Johnnie Sexton: ciara kelly is chronically boring..in all mercy and charity bring back hook..save my sanity..
@Keith. Yes a bad name! Who questions a girl that has been raped by stating that ‘what blame is the girl for putting herself in that position’? He is a 1960′s man and should be left in that generation. Anyone who has an ounce of brain power knows he is an idiot and a joke. Controversial to enlighten the lives of people who need to get a life!
@Johnnie Sexton: No they have gagged him pre recorded so he can’t interact with his audience which was his forte,interesting the character assassins Donoghue and McInerney have now left having destroyed Hook then and their own pile of rubbish went belly up also will never read anything written by O Tool either.I am no great lover of Pat Kenny but he was the only one who publicly backed George on Newstalk.We dare not speak out against any of the PC agendas without being a Nazi,Homophobic or gender biased and god help you if you are a white Irish male.
@Whoswho: the girl he was talking wasn’t raped though. Retrial pending
@Whoswho: can’t whistle at women.because u will get a bad name.we love u George
@Catherine Sims: cathartic sims shush
@Catherine Sims: Pre Recorded from George.Sad.If George had any balls he should tell D’O'B and Newstalk to stick it where the sun don’t shine.George LIVE is the only way.Love him or loath him.
@Ciaran Whyte: always…????…how many times were ugoing back to listen then FFS …..
@Whoswho: men dont have a bad name.
@John Cronin: thumbs up
@Whoswho: You said men have a bad name because of George Hook. So men have a bad name huh really ?! Wtf
And all because of George Hook?
Whoever you are – you have a brain like a Shepard’s Pie.
I bet your favourite number’s 2
About the same as your IQ
@Catherine Sims: no more controversy ?
How boring a world that would be. “Keep him in line” – my arse!
@Whoswho: if men have a bad name it’s because we’ve been labelled as such the cultural Marxists. In a world replete with “vulnerable” groups we are the monsters.
@Pizyco: “they” do but it’s a result of a Cultural Marxist propaganda assault
@Misanthrope: that’s from the “all men are ba@tards “ brigade – usually while trying to make some equality / gender balance argument they completely negate by labeling us decent normal men as having a bad name , it would be like me saying all women are bad drivers or something , once you label the entire gender as anything you’ve lost your argument I’m afraid. All men don’t have a bad name. Some do. Just like women.
January is perfect. Just in time to melt any left over winter snowflakes.
@Dj: nice
@Dj: very good
@Dj:
Hahahaha
@Dj: : im outraged by the word snowflakes
You are missed George
Seems like every time I switch on this channel Ciara Kelly is on. Very tame compared with George ..
@Alan Chapman: She far too PC for me ,and she has to give it a rest about alcohol
@Alan Chapman: definitely
@Gerry Murphy: shows the busy schedule she had when she could step in on such short notice and take over that slot , plus sat , plus
Sunday . Apart from.Yates the whole station has gone OTT with the political correctness ..Then to top it all you have Paul Williams 5 mornings a week ,A man who’d make Ken Barlow sound interesting .
@Alan Chapman: pretty lame , she seems very nice person but so lame and safe on the radio , and its all a bit GIRLSTALK anytime ive switched in , same ol whines about equality , pay gaps , gender balance and any other hotch potch of boring snowflakey non sense …. they seem to think because the station goes OFF THE BALL after 7 and is blokey that to ‘balance things up ” we have to have middle of the road girly shit during the day…
@Alan Chapman: she is totally boring and so self opinionated l have switched off Newstalk.
@Alan Chapman: she didn’t stab George in the back at least. She was measured and relatively fair with her criticism. Can’t beat Hook however, really looking forward to his return.
@Alan Chapman: Williams,,,,, drip
That woman is on everything of late and useless while proper female journalists such as Sarah Mcinerney were let go for her. She was in the indo this week about taking her child out of school for a week. Who loopy cares
Well said Orla
@Alan Chapman: Ciara Kelly just makes me switch off..
@John: and chatting about her boobs a couple of weeks ago. I changed the dial from 12 to 1
@Alan Chapman: I like her but don’t piss her off what ever u do her way or the highway.
@Alan Chapman: why is eamonn dunmpy always on radio and tv in ireland is is a real know it all and knows so little..
@Alan Chapman: I wish she would go back to doctoring, too wishy washy George has it right apart from DT in USA
@Alan Chapman: call it what it is … bland …. in fact its worse …. its worse than bland.
Yes , about time , loved listening to hooky on the evening shift it got me all angry and energised to push through those last few hours , Viva la Hook.
@Chamillionaire: indeed, he is like God to taxi drivers.
I Don’t like Hook.
@David Huston: interesting
Bring back Dil. ………..Only joking as the global village excludes free speach
@sean nihill: Amazed he is coming back….Thought his colleagues in Newstalk had finished him off….If Newstalk were an army they would shoot their wounded. …
#freehook
@Brian Byrne: #hookdidnothingwrong
@Woke Bloke: #couldntagreemore#F*ckthePCbrigade
@Brian Byrne: #surethey’reonlyabunchofhypersensitiveeejitsanyway
@Woke Bloke: nicer
@Brian Byrne:yep
@billy Dorney: #youforgotyour#
Dil wikremashinghe??? Is that the West Indies cricket player.
@Dj: you obviously weren’t one of the 5 people who listened to her show.
No..I’m not happy with this. ‘Prerecorded’ sounds like they want to check what he’s saying before it’s aired.
Censorship!
Rarely listen to Newstalk since George was let go (except for Pat Kenny and occasionally Moncrieff) voting with my feet, RTE1 extra more than makes up for Newstalk, when he returns I will too
@Charles Coughlan: Yeah that’s it for me Pat Kenny, and Off-The-Ball sometimes I’m usually a Joe Duffy guy but if its crap I’m over to Moncrieff who’s quite funny.
Stopped listening to Newstalk at lunchtime.. it’s the RTÉ radio player for me.
@martobaby: its bad when rte is your last resort.
@martobaby: I did the same. For whatever reason she is hard to listen to so I don’t turn it on anymore
He should tell them to stuff their radio station after what they put him through!
@John O Neill: might do, after he is reinstated
George Hook should be off the airwaves because he is a terrible broadcaster who has not changed his tune since he first came onto radio/television not because of these remarks. Newstalk handling of this was atrocious and the reluctance in this country to debate this hot topic for fear of the PC brigade really irks me.
@Maxwell: Absolutely. But this has nothing to do with ‘PC’. It has everything to do with the fact that the guy has never said anything of interest in his entire career. Predicatable, boring. Complete rubbish. Jesus, would you listen to him if he was at the bar next to you?
@Maxwell: right on chap jolly good.
at least there is somthin to look forward to in Jan.Always love listening to him and that cranky but alluring voice .
Looking forward to the return of G Hook.
@Graeme Murphy: as am i
I would love it if he turned around and told them to shove their job up their holes.
@Woke Bloke: good
Related, Kevin Myres interview from last week. https://youtu.be/dVIcuu9IBak
Have switched off newstalk except for off the ball. It’s just to bland. Yeats is no good by himself.
@prop joe: yes ,I kind of find that as well
Can’t handle Ciara. Despite not being terrible the show has become too much like Women’s Hour on the BBC, last time I listened. NewsTalk seem to be over compensating for Hook’s perceived slights. Wonder what the audience figures will be next time around.
Would say a lot of people have switched off. PC wins (temporarily) over audience figures.
Bring back hook ..the voice of the angry old men who remember when women knew their place and kept out of harms way..
Used to listen to newstalk a lot before they tried to recreate American talk radio bull in Ireland.
Not any more.
@Observer: American talk radio can be great! And Newstalk was great but has gone downhill in a boring kind of way. George used the wrong choice of words but he is a good man and a family man and does respect women and to suggest otherwise is pure nonsense. George also knew how to entertain which is the whole point of the radio show, try to make mundane day to day things interesting.
@gregory:
Didn’t pass any comment on his family or his personal life . He’s a public figure who made his reputation on controversy which is fair enough actually agree with him on some points .
So I think it’s fair enough to call him out when he gets it wrong in saying that everyone deserves a second chance
George got tired of saying responsibility and used the wrong word blame. If people couldn’t see what he was trying to say, well then I’d say, I’ve seen every kind of critter God ever made and I’ve never seen a more meaner lower stinking yellow hypocrites than these people.
Should never have been suspended. As a society we have allowed ourselves to be controlled by the indignation outrageratti brigade, smugly pouncing on harmless inarticulate comments.
No doubt the wingers will be back to have a go
Here we go again….. Ever notice we keep having the same arguments?
What a creep, as are his supporters.
@Justin Barrett: At least he has supporters. Unlike Dil whatsherface and the rest of the whining PC losers who got left in the trash heap.
@Justin Barrett: ah now
@Dj: I suppose if you can’t get a woman you have to fancy a man, good for you!!
@Justin Barrett: That was poor. I expected better from you. Try again.
I wonder if George and Dennis are drinking buddies down at the chaps rugby match….. otherwise there was no way back for him….
There is something good missing without him. This crap has to stop.
Simply cannot believe the comments I am reading here.. nor what Ireland I find myself living in these days…this misogynistic arrogant man should be quite simply off all national airwaves….not a man of this time! His and his pals of yesteryear’s comments are no longer de rigueur nor acceptable to the wider audience…of today. Repugnant and revulsive…in fact!
@Gearoidin Ni Canainn: welcome to the real world.
@Gearoidin Ni Canainn: Ageist!
@Gearoidin Ni Canainn: You ok, hun?
@Gearoidin Ni Canainn: well if you find the ireland your living in these days bad ive very bad news about the future , because idiots like you prefer sanitised safe bland drivel and think that older presenters are just yesteryear’ and you somehow think that because you dont like the opinions of some presenter they should ‘quite simply’ be off the airwaves – and I wonder what you propose for replacement exactly – the more homogenised broadcasting is becoming the more bland safe space and PC nonsense – keep wishing for that so , come back to me in a few years with how tolerable you find the Ireland you will be living in then. Moran.
@Tomas:….. your sad world Tomas..but definitely not mine…nor any educated liberal thinking person in this country.
@Col de Gal: ….
Not ageist at all..my boy..
There is no age nowadays at which Hook’s behaviour is acceptable….not sure what century your mind resides in? Welcome to the modern world.of accountability!
@Gearoidin Ni Canainn: will someone hold H you to account for being a Moran then .. .?.
@Dave Hammond: they will after they deal with your moronic self first
@Pizyco: What sort of a bygone drivel are you??Firstly, you do not have the balls nor the decency to use your own real name here…but are a ‘small man’ hiding behind a pseudonym??…or small man full of wind but of little or no real confidence to expose yourself ..being the more likely.
My comments are nothing whatsoever to do with ageism.. These outrageous comments by George Hook..are no longer acceptable at any age.. full stop.!
I , unlike you believe that we collectively create our own future….not await for the future we are given…too much for your ‘pea sized brain…no doubt!
You do not represent any man I would hope can influence the future if Ireland…for all our sakes…
Newstalk was much better before it became a National radio station!
Listeners hardly get a look in now!
They used to have a good controversial morning programme with Brenda Power but I don’t think
She was into being PC which probably didn’t suit some people.
@Mairead Hilliard: its interesting how people get so easily outraged these days and and permanently think that unless your safe sanitised PC crap you shouldnt be on air , and then wonder why the overall quality in radio and media is falling into such band mediocrity….people need to be careful what they wish for , the public wants what the public gets indeed….
@Pizyco: You’re so right. All those victims of sexual violence being “outraged” at someone stating they must share blame with the perpetrator/s who sexually assaulted &/or raped them, should just stop wanting to ruin the “quality of radio and media” for everyone else by expecting “safe sanitised PC crap”, and instead accept that some people can say whatever they want without having to care about the consequences of their words.
It was his comments not the majority comments got him sacked we are a free country
With Hooks gob in a post Weinstein world he’ll be permanently sh#t canned within the week…
“The presenter ended a monologue on the issue of rape with the question “is there no blame now to the person who puts themselves in danger?” – the big big problem with this statement is the word BLAME “Oh look your Honour she made me do it” FFS!
Bizarre anyone would want him on the airwaves, probably one of the the most stupid, idiotic anti woman statements ever made on radio.
@Austin Rock: Men can be raped too. You are the sexist seeming as he said person but you default to female. So who is making the anti women statement?
@Austin Rock: In all honesty , the word he was probably looking for was , responsibility .
We’d all love to live in a perfect world , but it’s not .
@Austin Rock: nonsense..
@Ken Hayden: People aren’t looking for a perfect world, because nature doesn’t capitulate to our sense of perfection. What some people are looking for, especially in relation to sexual violence, is that the perpetrators of such acts are held 100% accountable for their actions. Some of us are sick to death of wasn’t the victim “asking for it” becuase they dressed/talked/walked/drank/etc as an excuse to share the blame. There is no blame to share. There is no responsibility to share. The responsibility is the perpetrator’s, and theirs alone. Ensuring that this becomes a societal norm just might make a significant amount of people not assault or rape someone.
@Felicity Hensen: You are right ,but all women would not agree ,were you ever in the company of women ,one of which would be determined to take her friend’s husband and who would scold her own daughter for dressing provocatively ,they are there you know
@Austin Rock: wasting your time Austin. His supporters like to conveniently forget that he talked about her being passed around and questioned her judgment on the night but of course not that of the men there… But he only used one incorrect word apparently.
Something seriou I hope. Odious gobshitr
Hook should have been fired. History of anti woman comments and victim blaming is despicable. Disheartened by many of the comments here. Newstalk creeps me out. I want my media 50/50 men and women not just old white men wittering on.
@carodeer: yes fired ,out of a cannon preferably followed by that Kelly one and anybody else you don’t like ,what’s your view on Trump
Get rid of that obnoxious man.He should just fade into the background.
He is not important to anybody.He will not be missed .He is a man so opinionated that what he says should be ridiculed at every moment he opens his mouth.Not alone that he is completely incoherent and he Sounds like he has a very bad speech impediment. When he opens his mouth it sounds like he is dribbling out morose cacoughinous mumbo jumbo.Just go away George.Your time is up.
@David Kernan: why don’t you make yourself clear ,we still don’t know what you think of him
So really people actually still listen to radio these days ?
Even propaganda like DOB FM or FFFGLAB FM ?
Wow…
Sling yer
Met him once Pig Ignorant (my age) has failed to adapt to modern PC He has to pay the price Arrogant Fool
Wonder who else will Newstalk bring back next?
He should stay away. His views and self opinionated stance should stay with himself.
Bring
Is it not a better course of action whilst this boorish over privileged sponger is off the air to terminate his contract, radio has got on fine without him. he will not be missed.
have your say