Sport

Final farewell for 'the master'

THE great and the good of the Ulster boxing world will converge on St Nicholas's Church in Ardglass this morning to bid a final farewell to a legend of the local fight game, Harry Enright.

Although he had lived in the coastal county Down village for many years before his death on Thursday night, it is his influence on the boxing scene in Belfast and Ulster for which he is known in sporting circles across Ireland.

A teacher at St Patrick's College, Bearnageeha in north Belfast, Enright was a fan of all sports, from Gaelic football and hurling to cross-country running and latterly golf.

Boxing, though, was his first love.

A renowned coach at Immaculata ABC and St Matthew's in the Short Strand, he led the Irish team at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan in 1964.

He also took the Northern Ireland select to the last Empire Games in Australia in 1962 and the first Commonwealth Games in Jamaica four years later.

Paddy Fitzsimons was 16 when he first met Enright. Over half a century on, he describes him as "one of the most important people in my life".

Enright helped mould Fitzsimons into one of the best Irish boxers of his generation, and was also his mentor as he moved into coaching at Newington ABC and eventually the Dockers club, where he is still head coach today.

Fitzsimons recalls a man who "knew boxing inside out - he just had it", and revealed it was Enright who talked him into travelling to Tokyo having also coached him at the '62 Empire Games.

"My father had just died in June and the Olympics were in August. I was the only one working in the house, so I didn't want to leave my mother on her own because we would be away for a few weeks.

"I had made my mind up that I wasn't going to go, but then Harry convinced me that I would regret it if I didn't go.

"He was right of course. Although I lost early on, it was a brilliant experience just to be there, the kind of opportunity you only get once in a lifetime."

Fitzsimons's fellow Belfast man and close friend Jim McCourt brought home bronze from that Games, before adding gold at the Commonwealths in Kingston.

Enright's nous outside the ropes played a huge part in the success of Irish boxing in that era, according to Fitzsimons.

"He knew everything there was to know about boxing. He started the ball rolling, and he had a great way of getting his message across to you.

"Even other coaches, he would always have been on hand to give advice. He was that sort of man.

"When I went into coaching, he would have come down all the time and helped me out. I always appreciated that, because he knew much more than I ever would.

"Jim [McCourt] and I went down to see him a few weeks ago and he was in good form. He was never happier than just talking about boxing.

"I had actually planned to go down and see him at the weekend but unfortunately I never got the chance.

"I'll miss him. He was a great man." Respected All Saints, Ballymena coach and 1978 Commonwealth gold medallist Gerry Hamill is another Enright protege, describing his mentor as "the master".

Enright was Hamill's teacher at Bearnageeha, and the pair stayed in touch through the years.

"Harry was my PE teacher, but he was more than that. He was also a great friend," said Hamill.

"I always trusted his judgement. If I had any worries about anything, even at 15 and 16 heading towards Irish championships, Harry would've sat you down and given you good advice.

"He was a master in many ways, not just in the teaching sense. He was the master when it came to boxing."