ULSTER boxing chiefs are to meet with communities minister Deirdre Hargey after a motion to allow company EGMs and AGMs to take place in the North was rejected at an Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) emergency general meeting on Sunday.
A motion to change the wording in the company constitution from “state” to “island of Ireland” when it comes to future EGMs and AGMs was not passed, leaving the northern boxing fraternity questioning where they stand.
As a consequence, an emergency meeting of the Ulster and Antrim officer boards took place last night, with plans to speak with minister Hargey as soon as possible.
“Are we really in an all-island sport? Are we actually part of an all-island association?” asked Ulster secretary Charlie Toland.
“During the dark days of the pandemic, we approached everything on an all-island basis, and made a conscious effort to move in line with that, so this is very disappointing… it’s very divisive.
“I was actually shocked, especially considering the successes that Ulster and Antrim have brought in recent times, with Aidan Walsh winning bronze at last year’s Olympics and Dylan Eagleson winning silver at the Europeans.
“It’s so sad.”
Toland said the Ulster and Antrim boards now had to “take stock” in the wake of the weekend’s events in Roscommon.
“We have to have a good think about the message that’s been sent – that we’re not on an equal footing with everybody else in the sport.
“We’ll meet the minister and look at our own situation, try and plan a way forward for what Ulster and Antrim boxing looks like into the future. Because if we’re not wanted within the rest of the island as a sport, that’s very alarming.”
County Antrim president Paddy Barnes sr – whose son Paddy jr won bronze medals at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games – was horrified when the motion was rejected, admitting it has felt like “a death in the family” ever since.
“I got home last night and Patrick was in the house – I said to him ‘see those two medals you won? Throw them in the bin, because you didn’t win them as an Irishman’. That’s how bad I felt about it,” said Barnes sr.
“I’ve been dealing with these people for a long time, I know what way they think, I know their mentality.
“I’m not sure if they understood what it was, or if they voted against it because it was put forward by the board of directors, or if they voted because they don’t want us… it’s maybe a bit of all of that.
“Two people got up and spoke for the motion, including Eugene Duffy. No-one challenged it or said a word, then when it goes to the vote…
“Everybody thought it was a given before, but I didn’t. I was worried that, because of the first motion [to expand the IABA’s board of directors and change the way it is appointed], everybody’s emotions would be running high.
“Honestly, I do have a fear for the Association with these people in charge, I really do. That’s how bad this is.”
In the immediate aftermath of the motion being rejected, board of directors chairman Ciaran Kirwan said the clubs who voted against it “not to look at themselves,” with Irish sports minister Jack Chambers expressing his surprise yesterday.
He said: “It's a 32-county all-Ireland organisation and I cannot understand how this was rejected as well. It sends a terrible message.
“We've had many successful boxers from the six counties.”
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NEW NATIONAL SECRETARY CALLS FOR MINISTER MEETING OVER FUNDING CUT
NEW IABA national secretary Antoinette Faye-McClean has called upon Irish sports minister Jack Chambers to meet with the Association’s incoming board of directors as a matter of urgency.
Minister Chambers has confirmed that all state funding for boxing - with the exception of athletes in the High Performance Unit - will be cut in 2023 unless the IABA agree "very practical reforms" in the coming months.
That came after IABA members overwhelmingly voted against reform proposals at an emergency general meeting on Sunday, with the minister having previously warned of the threat of a 15 per cent cut in funding as well as a restriction on grants.
Already there are concerns funding cuts could jeopardise the prospects of the Irish cadet team travelling to the European Championships in Turkey at the end of the month, with other teams expected to represent Ireland on the international stage in the months ahead.
And Faye-McClean, whose husband Billy is a former national youth head coach, feels the minister needs to understand who is being penalised here.
“The minister and Sport Ireland need to meet with the new committee, to have those conversations across the table,” she said.
“Threatening children in sport is never going to work, because the only people who will suffer with these cuts are the clubs.
“If you hold a gun to people’s heads like that, of course they’re going to go against you. At the end of the day, it’s the kids who are going to be affected by this, not the elites – they’re fine. The High Performance is fine.
“You’re talking about 11 to 17/18-year-olds.”
Faye-McClean became the IABA’s first-ever female national secretary when defeating Paddy Gallagher 116-115 on Sunday, and she said the new officer board understands the size of the job at hand.
“It wasn’t until I got home and got messages from female coaches around the country, saying I’d just made Irish boxing history. I wasn’t even thinking that way.
“A lot of them said they felt that they now felt as though their voices could be properly represented at officer board level – that they feel there is somebody there who they can speak to, who has been through all the coaching, works at club level and understands the issues at grassroots level from a woman’s perspective. It was quite humbling to get those kinds of messages.
“Going into this election we knew from the start that, if we won, there was a big job ahead. We understand what has happened in the past has caused an awful lot of division within boxing, but we want to try and bring people back together.
“It’s a new set of eyes, new skills and a new way of thinking to try and bring the Association forward. A unanimous mandate went out from the clubs that they wanted change, that they want to bring the Association in a different direction, that they don’t want any more bad press or bad blood. It’s time to start healing some rifts.
“We are very open, and we want to work with everybody.”
