Tyrone U-21 manager Feargal Logan has slammed what he calls the “hysterical reaction” to the ‘hair-gate’ incident involving Tiernan McCann.
The Central Hearing Committee of the GAA deemed that the McCann’s proposed eight-week ban for discrediting the association following his ‘dive’ in the All-Ireland quarter-final was out of order. As a result the Killyclogher clubman will now start for Tyrone in their semi-final with Kerry on Sunday at Croke Park.
Logan, who tasted All-Ireland success earlier this year, spoke to RTÉ’s Game On about a lack of balance in the way the McCann case was reported and spoke about a “hysterical reaction” in some quarters.
However, he did preface his comments by saying: "There is a very clear and obvious risk that I would sound as a bitter Tyrone man and I don’t want that to be the case. I want to sound like a Tyrone man who is looking forward to a very good game on Sunday against the premier county in Gaelic football."
Yet Logan went on to reference: "A sense of bitterness and a sense that we (Tyrone) are being outcast. We are told we carry a smell and I'm as close as I ever have been to being very disturbed by the entire situation.
"Feigning matters on the football field is not singular to Tyrone. What Tiernan did was wrong. He accepts it was wrong.
"I'm not saying that Tiernan behaved like an altar boy and I'm not saying he's proud of what happened. I do say if you are going to enforce rules then there needs to be some level of consistency. There are a combination of things occurring at this time and I have to say it's presenting Tyrone in a particularly bad light.
"I believe that Tyrone as a county has honoured as best as it can the principals and core values of the Association for a long, long time. I find it disturbing and disconcerting that we should begin to feel the way we feel."
In response, former Meath player and now RTÉ analyst Bernard Flynn took issue with Logan’s use of the word "disturbing".
"Of course there is going to be a reaction to what Tiernan did,” added Flynn
"I played on a Meath team that was hated and ostracised. We knew it and it didn't really bother us. Any little thing that happened, we got it, left, right and centre.
"At the end of the day when you do something that Tiernan did there’s going to be a reaction and he should expect that and so should the people of Tyrone. They are no different. It's not disturbing and you're not been singled out. Forget about been paranoid and move on."
