Sherlock suffers online racial abuse

Former Dublin star Jason Sherlock was the victim of racial abuse online on the eve of today's All-Ireland SFC final between the Dubs and Mayo.

Sherlock's appearance on RTÉ's 'Up for the Match' preview programme last night prompted an abusive message from Twitter user Eoghan O'Dwyer who, in response to some friends, said: "Sherlock you Na Fianna reject...Back to Asia with you, you don't belong here."

I would love to meet this guy,if u know him dm meRT @eoghan_odwyer:Sherlock you NaFianna reject.. Back to Asia with you,you dont belong here

— Jason Sherlock (@boomjayo) September 22, 2013

GAA players and fans have wholeheartedly come out in support of Sherlock since then and condemned the tweet from the @eoghan_odwyer Twitter account which appears to have been deleted or suspended today.

It seems O'Dwyer is attached to Na Fianna GAA club, the north Dublin side Sherlock played for before transferring to St. Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh in 2006.

CLG NaFianna aware of the alleged racist comments targeted at Jason @boomjayo, investigation under way & action to follow

— CLG Na Fianna (@clgNaFianna) September 22, 2013

Reacting to the incident involving O'Dwyer, Sherlock tweeted today: "Thanks for all your positive tweets. For too long I was the victim of racial abuse but not anymore. Great to see many others feel the same.

"The guy who tweeted it is ignorant, but that doesn't allow him to be racist. He is being dealt with and hopefully he and his buddys can learn from this."

'Jayo', who helped the Dubs win the All-Ireland in 1995, received support from the popular @DubMatchTracker Dublin GAA Twitter account. They tweeted: "Very disappointed to see @eoghan_odwyer of @clgNaFianna racially abusing @boomjayo. No place for it in the GAA."

Na Fianna posted a message on their own Twitter page earlier today, saying: "Na Fianna GAA Club are aware of the alleged racist comments targeted at Jason, an investigation is underway and action will follow."

Sherlock retired from club football earlier this year. The 37-year-old forward won three Dublin Championships with Na Fianna and played for 15 years with the Dublin senior team, famously lighting up the 1995 All-Ireland Championship with his swashbuckling play and scores and winning seven Leinster titles along the way.

Commenting on racism in GAA in an interview on Today FM last year, he said: "I would have suffered a fair bit – we didn't have multicultural society as we do now.

"It is a humiliating experience. It's not necessarily that they’re racist, it's just a lack of knowledge and an ignorance. It's like if someone was overweight, they might get abuse."

Admitting at the time that he received racial abuse shortly after setting up his @boomjayo Twitter account, Sherlock added: "There's a load of other things people can slag me about, and I'd have no problem with that. When it comes to race, it's simply not on."