Live

Repeat: OTB Breakfast

05:00 AM-07:00 AM

Repeat: OTB Breakfast
Advertisement
Golf

Here's the key quotes from today's Dail committee hearing into the Billy Walsh saga

The Joint Oireachtas Committee hearing into the departure of Billy Walsh as head coach of the Iri...



Here's the key quotes from...
Golf

Here's the key quotes from today's Dail committee hearing into the Billy Walsh saga

The Joint Oireachtas Committee hearing into the departure of Billy Walsh as head coach of the Irish High Performance Unit has wrapped up without any real resolution to the dispute.

The Irish Amateur Boxing Association says that there was nothing abnormal in the contract that they offered to Walsh, insisting that they always wanted him to stay in the role.

Sport Ireland say they will continue to enjoy a good working relationship with the Association, despite the events of the last few weeks.

However they have said a review of the recent events may be necessary.

During the hearing, the CEO of Sport Ireland, John Treacy revealed his concerns about the dependence of the IABA on funding from the taxpayer.

"We're strongly of the view that the over-reliance of the IABA on Sport Ireland for funding is not healthy and is one under-lying factor that leads to tension. The past few days have demonstrated there is an enormous amount of public interest in Irish boxing. Surely the IABA have missed an opportunity to benefit from the public interest in recent years," he said. 

Meanwhile, the IABA says signing up to Walsh's proposed €1.6 million pay package would have been "irresponsible if not reckless".

Walsh left his post last week to take up a position in the US, saying he believed the IABA "clearly didn't want him".

The Irish Sports Council says commentary by the IABA in recent days has been designed to "misdirect" and "distract" from its failure to retain Walsh's services.

However, IABA Chairman Joe Christle says there was no campaign to oust Walsh and his future salary was a concern.

"The projected salary cost to the IABA of the proposed remuneration package of the head coach was circa €1.6 million, which given our dependence on government funds, creates a long-term liability without matching funds. As a board compliant with corporate governance best practice [it] would have been irresponsible if not reckless to commit to this level of future liability," he said. 

Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!

Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.