Hard work pays off for Irish

THERE is no big secret to the success of Irish boxing — just hard work, commitment, dedication and good coaching to develop the talent coming through the system — according to the President of the IABA, Dominic O’Rourke, who promised that there was more to come.

He was reflecting on the European Championships in Liverpool which produced three more medals to add to a spectacular year that saw Kenneth Egan (silver) and Darren Sutherland and Paddy Barnes (bronze) take medals from the Olympic Games in Beijing; four gold medals, a silver and a bronze from the EU Championships, four gold medals from the Olympic qualifying tournaments and a gold, a silver and two bronze medals from the World Youths Championships in Mexico.

“It has been a phenomenal year,” said O’Rourke, who is head coach at the St Michael’s Club in Athy where he coaches the likes of John Joe and David Oliver Joyce and Roy Sheahan.