Last night’s Saturday Night with Miriam featured George Hook in a merciless self-assessment in which he asserted that he was a “failure.”
This week marked the end of Hook’s 14 years working on RTE Radio’s Newstalk. Hook has had a remarkable career as an Irish broadcaster, journalist, author, rugby analyst and coach.
In his interview Hook shared stories of his childhood, family relationships, his successes, failures and views on religion. Despite apparent career success, he described his character in particularly self-deprecating terms, asserting that he was a “failure” and a “shit”.
Hook’s childhood was one that began in poverty. Despite his father working two jobs, the family were still unable to afford a Sunday mass dress for his mother, who opted to stay home for fear of embarrassment. The veteran broadcaster revealed that the family home had no running tap water until he was 14 years old and no experience running hot water until years later when he moved to Dublin.
Tom McGurk, George Hook, Frankie Sheehan and Brent Pope
To many outsiders it would seem that Hook lived a privileged life, given his private school education at a time when few people sat their leaving cert. However, this luxury was only afforded him through the determination of his parents and the sacrifices they were willing to make for the sake of his future.
"For these two people who had given me everything, only a shit would leave them in their pain... in their final years."
Hook expressed his sense of regret at how he treated his parents towards the end of their life "I treated my parents so badly in their old age. I can never... not a day passes that I don't think about it," he said.
For many years Hook envisioned that by his seventies he would be sleeping rough on the streets. Not until his mid-fifties did he receive his first steady and dependable wage. “Radio saved me...why wouldn’t I get emotional about it?”
Hook’s full interview can be found on the RTE player here
