George Hook

George Hook
George Hook at a Fine Gael event on 20 February 2011.
Born	(1941-05-19) 19 May 1941 Cork
Nationality	Irish
Other names	The Alpha Male, Hooky, The Hooky Monster
Education	Rathmines College of Commerce
Occupation	Journalist and Radio Broadcaster
Spouse(s)	Ingrid Hook
Children	Alison, George junior and Michelle
Website
www.georgehook.com

George Hook (born 19 May 1941)^[1] is an Irish broadcaster, journalist and rugby union pundit. He hosts The Right Hook on the Irish radio station Newstalk. He had a career as a rugby union coach and businessman, before becoming a rugby pundit with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). He has also made other TV appearances, such as judging on Jigs & Reels and coaching on Celebrity Bainisteoir.

Life

Hook grew up in Cork and attended Presentation Brothers College, a fee-paying school and rugby union stronghold. Subsequently he attended Rathmines College of Commerce.

Hook has had a number of jobs, beginning as a temporary clerk for CIÉ, and later becoming a travelling salesman for the Burroughs Corporation (now Unisys). He also ran a catering business for over twenty years. He coached London Irish and Connacht as well as the United States national team in the 1987 Rugby World Cup.

The Right Hook, Hook's radio show on Newstalk, is a popular^[2] late afternoon to early evening drive-time programme. His wife, "the lovely Ingrid", is regularly subjected to having her intimate details discussed and dissected on air by Hook.^[3] Hook appears as a rugby pundit on RTÉ on a regular basis and appeared as a judge on RTÉ celebrity dancing show Jigs & Reels. He has also been parodied in The State of Us.

In 2005, he published an autobiography, "Time Added On". The book described his years involved in business and the failure of this career path.

In 2009, he visited the impoverished Caribbean island nation of Haiti where he was moved to tears by the plight of the poor people who lived there so much that he organised a recruitment drive to get volunteers to go there on a house building week.^[4][5][6] The next day a vicious earthquake struck Haiti. After the earthquake Hook was heard to say: "It is a godforsaken place. God has literally forsaken it."^[7] Following the January 2010 earthquake. Hook urged his radio listeners to donate money.^[8]

Hook is also the patron of Comber Foundation, an Irish charity working in Romania since 1991, of which his daughter Michelle McGill is a trustee.^[9] The charity provides homes in the community for adults with disabilities who grew up in institutions and orphanages ^[10]

Politically, Hook is a longtime supporter of Fine Gael, frequently identifying himself on The Right Hook as being "an old Blueshirt". In 2010, as part of the Catholic Church's "Year for Priests" celebration, he contributed to a DVD, In Praise of Priests, featuring interviews with various people expressing admiration for their favourite priest.^[11]

George Hook has made a name for himself as a rugby analyst for RTE. Noted for his blustering style, he often comes out with outlandish statements that have no basis in reality. Typically, Hook trolls his viewers by picking the polar opposite of what his fellow panellists are saying. Although he will occasionally mix it up and provide insightful analysis fully aware that too much predictability can be detrimental to a professional wind-up merchant.

Bibliography

• Hook, George Time Added On, Penguin Ireland, 2005, ISBN 1-84488-076-1

Notes

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: George Hook

• Official website
• Ghook on Twitter
• Blog
• The Right Hook on Newstalk
• Profile in Dublin-based magazine Village
• George Hook's Lions Video Blog