THE Passenger Shipping Association has dropped former
hostage John McCarthy as speaker for its annual dinner –
after comments McCarthy made about kidnapping in Travel
Weekly.
McCarthy, who spent five years in captivity at the hands of Islamic
Jihad extremists, was interviewed in connection with his role as
keynote speaker at the Advantage Business Travel conference in
Copenhagen next month.
The PSA decided to axe McCarthy for the September 22 event after he
warned, in response to a question posed by Travel Weekly, that
Britons faced a greater risk of kidnap due to the UK’s
involvement in Iraq.
PSA director Bill Gibbons expressed concern that McCarthy had
commented in Travel Weekly on the current hostage situation.
“We hired John McCarthy on the basis he would talk about his
experiences in Beirut 13 years ago,” he said.
McCarthy, who now works regularly as a public speaker, will talk at
the Advantage Business Travel conference on October 11 and 12. He
said he hoped his speech would be a “positive”
advertisement for travel, something he has continued to do so since
his ordeal. McCarthy even returned to Beirut earlier this year.
Advantage director of business travel Norman Gage said the PSA had
made the wrong decision. “The comments on kidnapping were 20%
of the conversation and were written for Travel Weekly’s
readers, not for members of the PSA.”
He added: “Anybody from the PSA looking forward to an
articulate and upfront speaker is welcome to come to Copenhagen
with us.”
Gage added McCarthy is an “interesting man of our
times”, who was expected to be thought-provoking and
challenging.
The PSA has replaced McCarthy with comedian and former Cross Wits
presenter Tom O’Connor.