Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Mount Etna’s show of force
Troll sends sickening message to Ireland star Mcclean’s brother
MAJESTIC but terrifying, Mount Etna spews out lava, ash and a vast plume of smoke, as nearby towns keep a watchful eye.
The world’s most active volcano, on the east coast of Sicily, has been erupting since Monday.
No damage or injuries have been reported so far, although a nearby airport was forced to close temporarily after ash rose a kilometre into the air from the 3,350-metre volcano.
It’s very easy for someone to follow him home from the club ERIN MCCLEAN YESTERDAY
FOOTBALLER James Mcclean and his wife Erin have called for greater protection on social media after receiving more twisted death threats involving their children.
The couple have spoken out after receiving a message that said their kids should be tied to chairs and made to watch their father burn.
It was sent to Mcclean’s younger brother, Patrick, who is a defender for Irish League side Glentoran who shared it on Instagram.
It read: “I’m sorry what I said about you and your brother and your brother’s kids. I don’t want them to burn in a house fire.
“I would much rather James go up in flames on a chair while his kids are tied opposite to him on two separate chairs forced to watch their stinky fenian rebel b ***** d of a dea burn to the crisp.
“Maybe that’s better than dying in a house fire.” Ireland star Mcclean, 31, told
OTB AM yesterday that he has been receiving abuse like this for a decade.
He added: “I’m looking at this and it’s actually sent by a kid and you’re thinking, ‘wow’. I’m thinking back to me at that age, that hate shouldn’t be in you.
“Where is he learning that? It’s just social media and society nowadays, it’s a dangerous place.
“I hope and pray that none of my kids at that age have that level of hatred within them.
“If I did see something like that, I’d sit them down, and first and foremost, I’d like to know where that hate came home from and I’d do my best to educate them.
“This is unacceptable, you can’t be saying these things, your words have consequences.”
Mcclean, who has three children, aged seven, five, and three, with his wife said that it’s getting harder to explain the hatred to their children.
He added: “How do you tell your kids that your daddy is hated so much? It’s not a nice conversation to have but I’m just going to try and be as honest as I can.
“They’re already asking questions about why my daddy gets shouted at during games and booed, and we just tell them that it’s just because daddy is playing against the other team and they don’t want daddy’s team to win but that will only get you so far.
“I’ve had a lot of support recently, publicly from my teammates at Stoke and Ireland, and that means a lot.
“Maybe the tide is turning and maybe they’re thinking it’s not OK and we are going to take a stand. And if that’s the first step on the road to stopping them, it’s a big step.”
Speaking on Today With Claire Byrne yesterday, Erin told of the impact of the abuse on their family. She said that Mcclean’s mother Shauna still worries when he is at away games and admitted that she still “panics a bit” too.
She added: “It’s not as bad as it used to be the first two years at Sunderland. “This past year it’s got a little bit worse again but not so bad.
“It’s still not nice to have those threats on your husband.
“I do worry. It’s very easy for someone to follow him home from the club to the house and I do worry about that all the time.”
Taoiseach Micheal Martin wished the Mcclean family well yesterday.
He tweeted: “Social media at its best gives a voice to everyone – at its worst it is toxic and cruel.”
It’s OK, bruv. Let’s move on. I love you. It’s all in the past MICHAEL WATSON TO EUBANK ON TV SHOW
TEARFUL Chris Eubank has told Michael Watson – who suffered a near-fatal brain injury when they boxed each other – he cannot find the words to say how sorry he is.
Eubank added he still struggles to comprehend the impact of the fight 30 years ago that put Watson in a coma for 40 days and left him partially disabled.
In a TV interview being aired tonight, Eubank said: “I don’t know whether I can even make sense of what happened... him having to go through what he’s gone through and to still be here.
“I can’t tell you how sorry I am. It’s the only regret in my career.”
Speaking from the audience, 55-yearold Watson said: “It’s OK, bruv. Let’s move on in life. I love you, Chris. It’s all in the past. This could have happened to anyone. It was a sheer accident.”
Watson said he attended the Piers Morgan’s Life Stories interview as he wants “to be part of the story”. Eubank, 54, replied: “Michael, you are the story.”
Piers called it “the most powerful moment of any Life Stories show ever”.
In 1991, Watson was winning against fellow British boxer Eubank in their fight at White Hart Lane, North London, for the world super-middleweight title, but he was stopped in the final round.
Watson collapsed in the ring and went on to have six brain operations.
He sued the British Boxing Board of Control, claiming the necessary medical care was not ringside. By the time a settlement was reached in 2001, safety measures in the sport included ringside paramedics.
Watson, whose boxing career was ended by the injury, is no longer wheelchair-bound after years of rehabilitation.
Eubank, who grew up in poverty in
London, also said TV drama Upstairs, Downstairs inspired his posh accent. He added he was driven in his career to impress his brothers who hardly spoke to him growing up.
Eubank also confirmed he has married for a third time. He said he tied the knot in the US state of Louisiana and is based there after wooing his new wife by reading her the poem The Female of the Species by Rudyard Kipling.
Asked if he cheated on his first wife, who is the mother of four of his children, he said: “I always came home to my wife. I’m not going to talk of my past regrets.” ■ Piers Morgan’s Life Stories is being screened today at 9pm on ITV.