IRISH boxing chiefs have denied a campaign to force the country's most successful sports coach out of his job.
Joe Christle, chair of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA), said Billy Walsh was already the highest paid member of its staff and agreeing to a new €1.6 million (£1.2 million) pay package would have been "reckless or irresponsible".
The IABA offered a glowing report on their relations with Walsh despite the evident division between the top trainer and the sports' senior administrators over nine months of increasingly difficult contract negotiations.
Mr Christle told the Republic's Joint Committee on Transport and Communications about the fallout: "We wanted Billy to stay."
He added: "It's a source of huge regret that Billy decided to resign but any suggestion that any director wanted Billy to leave is totally and utterly rejected
"The suggestion that he is the victim of a campaign to oust him from his job is untrue."
John Treacy, Sport Ireland chief executive and former Olympic medallist, rejected the IABA's claims that the contract talks were primarily about a huge pay rise for Walsh.
Instead he said Walsh's paramount demands were in connection with non-financial matters, some of which were identified in a briefing paper written after the London 2012 Olympics.
Mr Treacy said there was evidence of tension between the Irish High Performance Boxing Unit, which Walsh spearheaded for several years, and the leadership of the IABA.
Walsh left for the US last week where he is to sign up to run the women's programme in advance of the Rio Olympics.
There have been claims and counter-claims over the breakdown in relations between the hugely successful coach and the IABA with reports suggesting he wanted more autonomy to select teams, speak to the media and restore allowances for coaches at overseas events.
Walsh is now regarded as the best sports coach Ireland has produced taking boxers to European, Olympic and most recently world glory with Belfast bantamweight Michael Conlan emulating the feats of Katie Taylor by becoming the first Irish man to bring gold home from a boxing World Championships over a fortnight ago.
On resigning as head coach Walsh described being left in tears by the failure to strike a deal to stay on as the Ireland coach.
Kieran Mulvey, chair of Sport Ireland, revealed that he twice challenged the IABA over allegations that there was a "dysfunctional relationship" between Walsh and IABA chief executive Fergal Carruth.
"We are still at a loss how eight months passed on a negotiation with one of their most vital employees," he said.
Mr Christle denied the allegation and insisted there was a very healthy and good working relationship between the two leading figures in Ireland's boxing scene.
The IABA also defended a clause in the contract offered to Walsh which stated that it could be altered with one month's notice.
Ciaran Kirwan, a solicitor with long experience in employment law who volunteers as a director with the IABA, said it was a standard clause and that only reasonable changes could have been made.
Mr Mulvey said that in the latter stages of the negotiations the Sports Council offered to fund the deal for Walsh.
"That was the financials out of the way," he said.
Mr Christle revealed that while the organisation had issues over such a large financial package for a world-renowned boxing coach it also accepted that all the money would be coming directly from the Sports Council.
"The IABA was not in a position to make any contribution towards funding," he said.
The nature of clauses in the contract were also repeatedly examined including a section which allowed the IABA to control or restrict Walsh's media appearances to those sanctioned by the chief executive.
"That clause was only there if an employee was to go out to speak against the IABA," Mr Kirwan said.
The solicitor said Walsh was the "only face" from the IABA the public would have known and the clause was never invoked to restrain him.
A third clause which gave IABA directors the power sign off on boxers selected for tournaments, was only involved once to allow Belfast Olympian Paddy Barnes to compete at the world championships before he was part of the high performance unit.
Mr Kirwan also accepted the damage done by the fallout.
"We'd have to concede that there's been some reputational damage done to the association," he said.
The IABA chiefs denied they wanted pay rises if Walsh secured a lucrative contract.
Mr Kirwan said: "The directors, just for absolute clarity, receive no remuneration whatsoever, nor do we claim any expenses."
Mr Christle added: "The chief executive, Fergal Carruth, has put himself on the record with everybody that, even if there was a review, he feels that he is adequately paid and did not seek ... to leverage his own position.
"He's a very modestly salaried CEO."
The IABA delegation insisted that its fears around a large contract for Walsh would have had a "knock-on effect" of demands for revised remuneration for other coaches, staff in the high-performance unit and boxers.
"Just coaches and high-performance staff," they told the committee.
The IABA said it was not aware of the terms Walsh had been offered by the USA Boxing Team.
But Mr Christle said one of the offers it had put to the head coach during the long-running negotiations would have seen him secure a 60 per cent increase in his remuneration package with the additional bonuses.
The committee hearing took place as USA Boxing unveiled Walsh to the nation as it prepares for the Rio games.
It billed him as the "highly decorated international coach, 1988 Olympian, and the architect behind the most successful era in Irish boxing".
"It is a huge honour for me as a coach to receive the opportunity to work with such an iconic boxing nation as the United States," Walsh said.
"It was with great pride that I was part of building the successful Irish programme over the past several years and I hope to do the same with USA Boxing.
"I am greatly looking forward to the opportunities ahead in bringing my expertise and experience to the United States Women's Team as they prepare for success in Rio and beyond."
USA Boxing noted that Walsh led Irish boxers to more than 50 medals in the European and World Championships along with seven medals in the last two Olympics.
Part of his new role will be to develop and execute the team's international calendar, oversee training programmes for Olympians and to identify elite coaches to guide athletes in international competitions and in their preparations.
Walsh is in Memphis, Tennessee, to watch the women's Olympics team trials before moving to Colorado Springs in mid-November.
