There are more punches being thrown in and around Leinster House this week than might be expected in the car park of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas or the King’s Hall in Belfast.
Yesterday Kieran Mulvey, the newly ratified Chair of Sport Ireland came out swinging against the ‘indignities’ that the Irish Amateur Boxing Association had piled on High Performance boss Billy Walsh forcing him to leave for a job running the US Women’s Olympic boxing programme.
Ministers are involved in calling for a last minute break in the impasse. This morning the IABA will be present in Oireachtas Committee rooms to defend their handling of the situation.
John Treacy, the CEO of Sport Ireland said yesterday as well that all funding for boxing would be dependent on clear oversight as to how it was being spent. That’s as one would expect with public money but the clear implication is that trust has entirely broken down and there is a long road back to be undertaken.
The same ‘oversight’ and more was applied in recent years to Basketball which had problems of its own but has since been turned around in spectacular fashion by CEO Bernard O’Byrne and a hard working board who recognised where improvements were needed and set about them in a professional manner.
It is not clear yet that the IABA recognises that any problems exist and perhaps their side of the story this morning will reveal more.
If Billy Walsh does stay in what would be a 13th rather than an 11th hour resolution that would be good on the surface for Irish sport but would it be the right thing for Walsh now that the relationship has broken down so badly.
He is a great coach and an even stronger leader but he is also human and to have come to such a big personal decision takes some courage and a lot of soul searching.
When you’ve searched that soul and realised what you have to do is not necessarily what you’d like that’s a big call. He’s supposed to be on a flight to the US today, to sign his new contract and move on to a new chapter.
Quite what the US Olympic Boxing management make of all this is hard to tell but if there is an epilogue to be written we hope it is one that works for all concerned, most importantly Walsh himself and the sport he has been an important part of raising to levels of success that few could have imagined.
The key is that those who did imagine it persuaded boxers like Darren O’Neill, Katie Taylor and Michael Conlon that it was possible, that it was their destiny once they worked hard enough to earn it.
That’s leadership. Now, seconds out…
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