McGuinness forces removal of journalist

An indignant Jim McGuinness refused to participate in yesterday’s post-match press conference until a journalist was removed from Croke Park’s interview room.

In extraordinary scenes, the Donegal manager took his seat only to walk out after noticing This Is Our Year author Declan Bogue was in attendance.

Bogue left after being informed by a GAA communications department official that McGuinness would not return until he had vacated the room.

On taking his seat again, McGuinness, when asked why he had insisted on Bogue’s exit, explained that he couldn’t tolerate his presence.

“There was a book written and a lot of untruths in the book. There were a lot of things said about me. I’ve never broken court since the whole thing happened. I’ve held my dignity, I’ve let myself be castigated and I did that because I gave somebody an agreement that I wouldn’t break my court on it. There were a lot of things in the book that were incorrect.

“The person who wrote that book had no researcher on the book to qualify what was said. The other people in the media who wrote fairly vile articles had no researcher to qualify the comments and it was all-out attack for a couple of months on my character.

“I know what I’ve done, I know what I’ve coached and I know what I am as a person. So I’m not going to let somebody sit in a room and fill their pages tomorrow on the back of what we done today when they in their wisdom degraded me and some of my players.”

Kevin Cassidy’s contribution to Bogue’s book last November led to him being axed from the panel.

McGuinness said This Is Our Year has given people the wrong impression of him.

“It would have been easier for me to turn around and say I want an apology and or ‘this is wrong and that is wrong’.

“But the reality is once it’s out there it’s a historical document. It doesn’t matter if he turns around 24 hours, three weeks or three months later and apologises.

“The people that read it in the first place have made their mind up. He’s left the room, I’ll answer any questions and that’s the end of it. I work with the media, I always work with the media but I’m not going to let anybody ride two horses.”