Ulster Boxing’s high performance head coach John Conlan says the Irish Amateur Boxing Association (IABA) and the Irish sports ministry must resolve their differences to ensure athletes can compete at the Paris Olympics.
The government are currently threatening to withhold all state funding for boxing unless IABA agrees to a number of reforms.
Conlan was speaking after leading Northern Ireland’s boxers at the Commonwealth Games, where they sensationally won five gold medals.
The 12-strong team also claimed a silver and a bronze, and many are expected to be in contention for a place in Ireland’s Olympic team for the 2024 Games.
However, their very involvement in the competition is under threat due to the ongoing dispute involving IABA and the sports ministry, who in July informed Irish boxing’s governing body that they must agree to a range of reforms within two months or the sport would receive no funding for 2023.
“It’s really important that our Association and the sports council sort out their differences, because we need to be in the Olympic Games,” said Conlan.
“It’s a worrying issue at the minute. We didn’t talk about it in the camp too much because we didn’t want the athletes worrying.
“These athletes sacrifice everything. They hit their targets, they get onto the funding path. Imagine sacrificing jobs, apprenticeships, university, relationships to be a full-time athlete and then the programme is pulled.
“Everything can be sorted. People sit down and common sense prevails.”
Commonwealths give boxers ‘a little taste’ of Olympics
Northern Ireland’s boxers served up a sensational display at the Commonwealth Games to spearhead Team NI’s charge to a record medal haul.
Prior to Birmingham 2022, Northern Ireland’s record for gold medals at a Games stood at five. The boxers alone achieved the same number in the space of five hours at the National Exhibition Centre on Sunday.
The team included 2020 Olympians Aidan and Michaela Walsh, who won gold alongside world champion Amy Broadhurst and exciting youngsters Dylan Eagleson and Jude Gallagher.
After their victories both Aidan Walsh and Broadhurst acknowledged that they face a decision as to whether remain in the amateur game or move into the professional ranks, while Eagleson and Gallagher have set their sights firmly on Paris.
“We kind of get them in there early and infect them with the seed of the Olympic Games,” said Conlan.
“We sow the seed that the Olympic Games is the major tournament, and we say that this [the Commonwealth Games] is the best practice because it’s a multi-sport event, and it kind of opens their eyes to what it’s all about and gives them a little taste for it.”
They did indeed flourish in Birmingham, with boxing once again consolidating its position as NI’s best Commonwealth discipline by a considerable distance.
This time around they won seven medals compared to the eight they claimed on the Gold Coast, but in Australia they were unable to win a single gold – making the 2022 Games haul of five golds, one silver and a bronze their most successful to date.
“They committed completely to the training programme and under the big lights they performed,” he said.
“I think it says we’re on the right track. We’ve great support from Antrim and Ulster Councils, and from the clubs. We’ve got really good youth and junior programmes and a coach development pathway for which Damian Kennedy is a prime example.
“This was Damian’s first competition and he was absolutely phenomenal.
“I just think that we have a really good structure in place that can get better, I think there’s a lot of room for improvement.”
