Derry footballer McClean has closed his Twitter account after being bombarded by sectarian abuse and death threats.
The Sunderland winger received the abuse and threats after being named in Ireland’s squad for this summer’s Euro Championships.
McClean received a horde of congratulatory messages but some were more sinister.
One Twitter user, with the account ‘RobbieLittle@PotKettleBlack3’, posted: “F*** up your dirty fenian b****** il make sure you get shot when you set foot back into gods country #FTP.”
Another using the name ‘James W Magee@JamesWMagee07’ posted: “U deserve to be shot for that comment!! Your playing for Ireland and not the country you were born in (NI). #p****”
Those messages have since been deleted and McClean has shut down his account.
The footballer, who had more than 50,000 followers on the social networking site, has since deleted his account.
McClean has been the subject of abuse before on Twitter after deciding to represent the Republic rather than Northern Ireland.