James McClean's return to Twitter has been a short-lived one. After an innocent tweet about his favourite Wolfe Tones song inspired an angsty response from the DUP MP Gregory Campbell, Martin O'Neill met with McClean Monday, and by all accounts, told him to shut down the account.
The move to delete his account is understood to have been made on club advice, and after a brief but frank meeting with manager Martin O'Neill on Monday.
It comes after the Republic of Ireland star professed his love for song The Broad Black Brimmer by The Wolfe Tones prior to Sunderland’s game against West Bromwich Albion at the weekend.
McClean had tweeted about Campbell's comments by saying: “Accordin to gregory campbell i shouldnt be allowed to listen to wolftones ha.. someone give greg a tissue and a big hug from me”. McClean returned to Twitter in January after quitting in the wake of his tweet from Astana and the row over his decision not to wear a poppy, but to us, this seems like a ridiculous crackdown on personal expression. Is it really sectarian to state your favourite Wolfe Tones song is 'Broad Black Brimmer'? Does this offend people in 2013? Or could it be that Campbell, also a Derry man, knew that McClean is lightning rod for controversy and picked up on a throwaway tweet to get himself more headlines and galvinise his constituency?
