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Loughnane was on holidays in France when the media storm erupted.

He agreed to be interviewed by local radio station Clare FM from his holiday destination.

Loughnane was asked to confirm if the character he had imagined shooting was Fr.

Harry Bohan.

Refusing to confirm or deny, Loughnane accused “ this character ” of being “ insanely jealous of Clare ’ s success ” during his tenure, adding: “ I would regard ( him ) as the man, hurling-wise, who was the greatest failure ever in the history of Clare hurling .” Bohan was manager of the Clare team in the late 70s when it was widely perceived that that Clare team, which included Ger Loughnane, left at least one All-Ireland after them.

He also hit out at another award recipient ( widely believed to be top Croke Park official Sean Ó Laoire ) describing him as “ a traitor to the county ” for his role in the Jimmy Cooney / early-whistle affair in 1998, which denied Clare a crack at a third All-Ireland in four years.

In the same interview, Loughnane also suggested that the Clare Champion newspaper, co-sponsors of the awards, were hostile to him because they did not obtain rights to print exclusive extracts from his autobiography, ‘ Raising the Banner ’, before it was published five years previously.