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"It's terrible" - Sport Ireland chief lifts lid on the "deep divisions" within the IABA

On Tuesday night's Off The Ball, Kevin Byrne of The Irish Sun broke down the divisions within Iri...



"It's terrible" -...
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"It's terrible" - Sport Ireland chief lifts lid on the "deep divisions" within the IABA

On Tuesday night's Off The Ball, Kevin Byrne of The Irish Sun broke down the divisions within Irish boxing's organisation, the IABA, as well as the long term effects of the issues currently at play.

On Wednesday night's show, Sport Ireland Chief Executive John Treacy discussed the problems that have emerged from his perspective and highlighted the divisions he has seen from meeting with the IABA.

Following comments on Newstalk Drive by Minister for Sport Patrick O'Donovan about the lack of clarity about who is in charge of the direction of the IABA and boxing development, Treacy told Off The Ball that he sees "a deeply divided board, there's no doubt about that, and if you look at the media in recent times and the leaking of stuff, it's clear that there is deep division within the organisation."

On the implementation of the Rio Review recommendations, he added that rules needed to be put in place, "but that hasn't happened". 

One of the recommendations in the Review is that the High Performance Director, Bernard Dunne, is the person tasked with team selections and going to major events as team manager. However, Central Council did not choose Dunne to take on that role for the upcoming European Championships which prompted Treacy to convene a meeting in his office with Chairperson Joe Christle, Fergal Carruth and President Pat Ryan. 

Treacy said: "We put it to Pat Ryan, who is the President of the Central Council, that he needed to convene a meeting and what we asked them to do was go to the Central Council, ensure there's a High Performance Committee put in place and that Bernard can report into and work with, and that has the expertise and is part of the Rio Review."  

Treacy said a meeting on Saturday did not occur and he was subsequently informed on Sunday night that a box off would decide one of the selections for the squad.

"That prompted the further meetings this week, so it's really, really disappointing because I think a lot of good work done and it's terrible, really, really disappointing to look at the division within Irish boxing," said Treacy. 

He also touched on the case of Kerry footballer Brendan O'Sullivan and is hopeful that a report will be published on Thursday.

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