Dad of Celtic superfan Jay slams ‘shameful’ online taunts at son
POLICE in Scotland are investigating after a “disgusting” tweet about a young Celtic superfan from Lurgan appeared online at the weekend.
Hoops-mad Jay Beatty from Lurgan has become a hero to people with Down’s syndrome, helping to change perceptions and winning the hearts of some of the world’s top football stars and their fans along the way.
Jay and his dad Martin travelled to Scotland at the weekend only to see Hearts end the Bhoys’ 69-game unbeaten run in a 4-0 victory.
On their arrival home, Martin expressed his anger at social media posts aimed at young Jay.
Martin posted a screen grab of one tweet which said Jay “won’t see 10 in a row” referencing Celt- closely followed by ‘something to help you at work’, which clocked in with 17% of the vote. Deodorant sets, socks and handkerchiefs also ranked highly on the least desirable list.
The survey also revealed the province’s number one Christmas song and movie.
Topping the music charts, a whopping 40% of people in Northern Ireland voted Fairytale of
Jay Beatty loves Celtic FC
ic’s run of league championship wins.
“Hearts fully deserved to win today,” he said, “fought and won every ball so well done on a great win but getting off the plane with Jay to see this all over social media is disgusting. Enjoy your result but wishing the death of a child because of the team he loves is shameful and is wrong.” New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl as their favourite Christmas song, with Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas coming in second with 13% and Wham’s Last Christmas (10%) in third place. Christmas just isn’t the same without sitting down to watch a festive movie, and Home Alone starring Macaulay Culkin was voted our alltime favourite with 26% of the vote, ahead of Will Ferrell’s hilarious Elf which came a close second with 23%.
Jay first hit headlines aged just 11, after being carried around Glasgow’s Celtic Park in front of more than 50,000 supporters by Celtic player Georgios Samaras.
At the time he was a mascot for the club, an honour he received after meeting Celtic players when the side came to Belfast to play Cliftonville in a Champions League qualifier in 2013.
In 2015 Jay won the Sunday Life/Specsavers Spirit of Northern Ireland Awards.
A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said: “Police in Edinburgh are aware of comments made on social media following the Hearts v Celtic match at Tynecastle on Sunday, December 17. Inquiries are ongoing into the full circumstances. Anyone with criminal concerns over content posted online can report these to Police Scotland on 101.”