Bournemouth’s Arter considered ending Ireland career

Bournemouth’s Harry Arter has admitted he considered ending his international career after receiving a series of vile messages over social media.

Rumours that Arter, who has three Ireland caps, was considering switching allegiance and playing for England spread following discussions between Jeff Stelling and Paul Merson on Sky Sports.

And the reaction by some Ireland fans to the rumours left the Cherries’ midfielder, who has made seven appearances for Bournemouth so far this season, stunned.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. This was Irish people who had looked at a few newspaper stories and come to the conclusion I was about to play for England,” he said.

“I never said that was happening and my stance on the whole story was that I didn’t need to comment on something that was little more than a rumour.

 (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“Then I saw these Twitter messages and, honestly, it was the only time that I have ever had a thought that maybe I shouldn’t play for Ireland.

“The messages were just vile. I was shocked by what people were sending my way.

“Honestly, I had to check that someone had not hacked my account and put a message on there to inspire this reaction.”