AmateurHeadline News

Irish Boxing given minor funding boost as part of one-off government giveaway


Irish amateur boxing was handed a minor funding boost yesterday.

As part of a one-off allocation from the Irish government which comes following the major attention brought by Ireland’s runner-up finish at the Women’s Hockey World Cup, 17 governing bodies were garnished with additional funds.

€1,750,000 has been divvied out in total, with the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) receiving €50,000 of this.

Boxing, receiving just under 3% of the windfall, has been provided with the funds to “support the costs” of the men’s senior team’s participation at the revived EU Championships in Madrid this November as well as facilitating the “expansion” of the High Performance coaching team

Since the allocation of the annual Sport Ireland grants at the start of the year, boxing has once again been Ireland’s most successful sport internationally.

24 medals have been won at European Championships across four tournaments – the Women’s European Senior Championships, the Men’s and Women’s European U22 Championships, the Men’s and Women’s U18 Championships, and the Men’s and Women’s European U14 Championships.

These 24 medals (6 gold, 8 silver, and 10 bronze) come from 58 entered boxers, an impressive strike rate of 41%

In addition to this, a further eight Irish fighters won medals representing Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games.

Following the allocation of funds – where hockey (€500,000), sailing (€200,000), and horse sport (€175,000) were the big winners -Minister for Transport, Tourism, and Sport said that “I am committed to ensuring that Team Ireland will have every possible support on the road to Tokyo 2020 and I am confident that we will be able to provide further increased support in 2019 and 2020.”

Brendan Griffin, Minister of State with Special Responsibility for Tourism and Sport, added that “I am pleased that we have been able to provide this additional funding support, which will be very beneficial for our athletes in their preparations for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

The €50,000 funding allocation comes on top of €1,132,00 awarded at the start of the year. This lump sum was split with €700,000 going to the High Performance Unit and €432,000 being the core grant given to the IABA.

In addition, there was individual funding doled out to 10 Irish boxers totalling €172,000 (although Sean McComb, recipient of €12,000, has since turned professional).

In total, across all funding this year, boxing sits fifth behind athletics, swimming, horse sport, and sailing.

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Joe O'Neill

Reporting on Irish boxing the past five years. Work has appeared on irish-boxing.com, Boxing News, the42.ie, and local and national media. Provide live ringside updates, occasional interviews, and special features on the future of Irish boxing. email: joneill6@tcd.ie

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