I suspect Heffernan was trying to get under his skin and rattle him a bit for the hearing but he went about it the wrong way.
Some of the things this man comes out with are way out of line.
Joyce did well to laugh it off but he must have been angry and insulted to say the least.
These chat boards at times do exactly the same thing with vilification of Joyce because of his heritage. It is below the belt and not necessary.By all means be critical of his policies but playing the man because he is Irish or short is not right.