The phrase ‘Only in Ireland’ is not bandied about for nothing. The saying was at the forefront of my mind when I learnt the news that Billy Walsh had resigned as Head Coach of the Irish Boxing team and Director of the High Performance Unit today to take up a position with USA Boxing. The Wexford man is a winner, and a popular one at that; he’s always had the support of the boxers, and the reaction of John Joe Nevin and Darren O’Neill on social media speaks volumes today.
Since Walsh was brought into the High Performance Unit when it was established by Gary Keegan in 2003, the fortunes of Irish Boxing have soared on the international stage. In the 56 years between 1952 and 2008, Ireland’s boxers won 9 Olympic medals. In the past 7 years, 7 medals have been won at two Olympic Games, making household names out of the likes of Katie Taylor, Kenneth Egan and Michael Conlan. Only last week, under Walsh’s watch, Conlan became Ireland’s first ever male boxing champion in Qatar. In addition, Ireland finished fourth in the medals table and silver medallist Joe Ward booked his ticket to Rio. At next year’s Olympic games, the boxers will lead the charge for medals, before Rory McIlroy or anyone else. With Irish athletes in track and field struggling to compete at the top table, it is paramount to have a stable structure in place to work in tandem with the approximate sum of €3 million euro which is set aside by Sport Ireland to Boxing for High Performance geared towards the 2016 Olympics. Walsh wasn’t the only person in this structure, far from it – Zaur Antia and Pete Taylor are huge contributors to the coaching team. However, Walsh was the leader, the protector and the motivator.
From listening to the deep disappointment in Billy Walsh’s voice during his interview with Matt Cooper on The Last Word tonight, I could tell this was not about money or leverage; and it was a moot point anyway because Sport Ireland were willing to underwrite the cost of his new contract. The key point in all of this is that Billy Walsh did not just receive a better offer and leave. It is far more complicated than that and that is why this is an issue in the public domain. The Irish Amateur Boxing Association have expressed regret at his resignation, but why won’t they reveal what measures they took to retain his services over 8 months of protracted negotiations?
That Sport Ireland have claimed that their August proposal was never presented to the IABA Board is a damning indictment of the way the IABA does business. Why won’t the IABA defend themselves to that charge? After all, don’t the IABA receive annual funding from Sport Ireland? I believe it is over €400,000 this year. Withdrawing that funding would only hurt the boxers, but it’s interesting that in Britain, the High Performance Unit and the Association are separate entities. Perhaps that is what Billy Walsh wanted and that is where relations broke down. So what if he did want the best and not to be suffocated by bureaucracy, as he claimed in his interview on The Last Word? Is it wrong to expect a successful coach to have the autonomy pick his team? Do we want to win Olympic medals or not? Somebody in the Government should be making angry phone calls and demanding explanations and accountability, because that it should come to this and we have now lost Billy Walsh’s services is unacceptable for taxpayers and sports fans.
