Coghlan quits and slams Council’s grant snub

IRISH HURDLER Peter Coghlan has quit athletics in protest at being omitted from the Irish Sport Council’s high-performance grant recipients.

Coghlan, who has qualified for the World Championships, claimed he could no longer afford to train at the level required to compete at the elite end of the sport.

And he fired a stinging broadside at the Sports Council and other authorities, insisting: “I wish the best to all my compatriots on the Irish team and hope they continue to produce the success that, in reality, is little short of miraculous given the current level of support structures and facilities in place in Ireland.”

“I am an Economics graduate so I can say with certainty that money has never been a motivating factor in my athletics career. I also realise that I am fortunate enough to have been able to pursue an endeavour so close to my heart. But the commitment required to compete at the high performance end of athletics is enormous, and the grants I have received over the past five years - thanks to the Irish tax-paying public - have been essential. I also believe the enjoyment that successful athletes bring to the Irish public is worth that investment and more.”

“I am currently qualified to compete at this summer’s World Championships in Helsinki in the 110m hurdles and had laid out a training plan for that event which I began in October and it is with great disappointment that I am now forced to bring those preparations to a premature close.

“Last year, American hurdler Allen Johnson won the World Indoor Championships with a personal best at the age of 33, so age is not a factor. At 29 years old I firmly believe I have not unlocked my full potential in the sport and with the right support could still compete with the World’s best. My coach agrees, my National Federation, the Athletics Association of Ireland, agrees. Unfortunately the Irish Sports Council does not share that belief.

Athletics Ireland also demanded an urgent meeting with the ISC over the latter’s controversial decision not to award some of Ireland’s top track performers any grant funding for the coming year. Aside from Coghlan, established names such as Sonia O’Sullivan, Mark Carroll, Karen Shinkins, James Nolan, Paul Brizzel and Gary Ryan all failed to make the list.

The Sports Council made the cuts in a move to concentrate funding on those athletes it considers to have a better chance of competing successfully at the highest level.

An AAI spokesman said: “Presently Sonia O’Sullivan and Mark Carroll have qualified for the World Championships in Helsinki on A standards while Peter Coghlan, James Nolan, Karen Shinkins and Tomas Coman have B standards, none of whom are recipients of any funding from the International Carding Scheme.”

It wasn’t all bad news for Irish athletics, though. New European Indoor 400 metres champion David Gillick has been promoted to the World Class 3 category in the scheme - worth €19,000 to the Dubliner.

Another 400m specialist, Paul McKee receives €22,900, 200m runner Paul Hession is allocated €11,500, while race walker Gillian O’Sullivan has again topped the money list with €30,500 (World Class 1 category).

In boxing, Kenneth Egan, the Irish light heavyweight champion, gets a world class 2 grant of €22,900 while Olympic boxer, Andy Lee, gets €19,100. Meanwhile, only two swimmers - Steven Manley and Julie Douglas - were awarded grants. Funding in excess of €1.7million has been made available across all sports.

See Results section for full list of recipients.