James McClean shuts down Twitter account after death threats

Irish international James McClean last night shut down his Twitter account in response to death threats from Northern Ireland fans unhappy at this Euro 2012 call-up this week.

The Sunderland midfielder had been one of the most prominent Irish players on them micro-blogging site yet due to his heritage, has also been a target for constant abuse from online trolls.

As McClean was born in Derry and represented Northern Ireland in his youth, certain sections of Northern Ireland fans are irate by his commitment to the Republic of Ireland, particularly after making the Euro 2012 side earlier this week.

After suffering what he called "dog's abuse" for his call-up, the player initially retaliated on Monday night, riling up his detractors by defiantly sending the below tweet:

This tweet, however, led to a particularly nasty stream of reponses, with one Northern Ireland Twitter user writing directly to the player: "@JMcC_23 f**k up your dirty fenian bastard il [sic] make sure you get shot when you set foot back into gods country."

Another death threat sent directly to the player (from a user who like the above, has since deleted their account) read: "u deserve to be shot for that comment!! Your [sic] playing for Ireland and not the country you were born in (NI) #prick".

No action has yet been taken over the offending tweets, though it is likely that both users deleted their accounts, perhaps wary of the precendent set in late March when a UK student was jailed for 56 days for abusing Bolton football Fabrice Muamba after his recent on-field heart attack.

As of last night, McClean's official Twitter account, @JMcC_23, "doesn't exist", though we hope to see to see the player back online soon after what has been a momentous week in his playing career.