O’Byrne: International return now under way

Basketball Ireland head Bernard O’Byrne has said that while there is no direct timeframe in place to return Ireland’s teams to the world stage, he hoped it could happen within the next three to four years, if not earlier.

Speaking at the launch of new kit sponsors for the underage national squads, he did, however, warn that senior teams would most likely be the last to take their place within European competition on the basis that it would be sustainable and not just a short-term move.

“There isn’t a specific time set out, but what I would hope for is within the next three to four years, and possibly even two to three years, we might get our elite teams back,” he said.

“Probably the last teams to come back will be the senior teams because we have to be sensible about this. There is no point in coming back for one championships and then finding we’ve to pull our senior teams the next time. So when we do go back we hope that things will be in place for the foreseeable future and that’s what we are building towards. But we are beginning to return to competitions and new sponsorship is arriving so we are very much in the process of turning the boat around.”

O’Byrne, a former FAI chief executive, took the role over two years ago amidst a crisis he admits nearly brought the entire organisation down. However, he also revealed that under his guidance, Basketball Ireland have stuck rigidly to a plan that will allow them to move out of the red in due course.

“A seven-year debt package was put in place and at the end of that we will be completely debt free. We are three years into that now and all commitments have been met both on time and on target and now we have some good things beginning to happen within the sport.

“That seemed a long way away when I took over so it’s refreshing to be able to say that. When I came in, the first thing I found was quite a serious degree of demoralisation throughout and within the sport here.

“It had been a traumatic time over the previous couple of years. What had happened was the organisation had gone off the financial rails if you like and there was a major debt there of €1.2m. There were some dark days where there was certainly the possibility of Basketball Ireland going out of business, but through the work of some great people we kept going.”

The deal announced yesterday sees Macron become the official kit and leisurewear suppliers of Irish international teams, just as a milestone will be reached this summer with the U16 boys’ and girls’ national teams dipping their toes back into international waters at the European championships.

“We hope that will be the start of a programme that will eventually lead to all eight of our international sides being back in Europe,” added O’Byrne. “It has been difficult but we have made progress and this is the latest step.”