Defiant local boxers to fight in Paris

Dublin People 04 Dec 2015
Bracken Boxing Club members Garry Fay (coach), Chloe Gray, Ben Teeling, Cameron Bennett, Denis Gifford, Niamh Fay and Chris O’Reilly and Kieran O’Neill (coach) pictured at their premises in Balbriggan. PHOTO: DARREN KINSELLA

MEMBERS of a Northside boxing club will travel to Paris next week to take part in a tournament just little over a month after the terrorist attacks which claimed 130 lives in the city. 

On November 12, the day before the attacks devastated the French capital, Bracken Boxing Club, based in Balbriggan, booked flights for six of its top boxers and three coaches. 

However, in the aftermath of the tragedy, the trip was plunged into doubt. 

Kieran O’Neill, one of the club’s coaches, told Northside People that the trip is still on and vowed that his team would be travelling on December 18 to take on their French counterparts at a venue in the centre of Paris.

Mr O’Neill, a member of the nine-strong travelling party which includes boxers Denis Gifford, Christy O’Reilly, Chloe Gray, Niamh Fay, Ben Teeling and Cameron Bennett, as well as coaches Greg Kenny and Garry Fay, explained that the Paris Regional Boxing Board had invited his club to the tournament.

“All of their regional boxers will be coming together to fight our team in preparation for their National Finals,” he said.

“We have been to Paris on two previous occasions and we hosted them three times in Dublin.

“We are sending a very strong team which includes three Irish internationals (Gifford, O’Reilly and Gray).

“We will fly to Paris on December 18 and the fights will take place on December 19 and 20. We will be flying back to Ireland on Sunday night.” Mr O’Neill said he was shocked when he heard what happened in Paris, describing it as an attack on humanity.

“I went to bed early that night because I wasn’t feeling too well, and got a text the next morning from Christopher O’Reilly (one of the boxers) asking if we were still going to Paris.

“Our contact over there is a detective and was caught up in the security measures. We made contact with him and expressed our concerns for him and his family. 

“At that time it was insensitive to discuss with him whether the boxing would take place, but the event is still on.” Mr O’Neill said his own personal view is that life must go on.

“I myself wouldn’t stop still for this, but at the end of the day we have a duty of care for the boxers and we can’t be seen to put them at risk,” he added.  

“We told them all to take a breather for a week or so after the tragic events; not to talk about the trip and not to have a knee-jerk reaction. However, after a period of reflection, our boxers have said they want to travel.

“I also got a few texts from parents asking for advice on whether they should travel, but everything has been sorted now and we’re ready to go over there.”

Mr O’Neill said he boxed in Northern Ireland during the Troubles and was fortunate that his sport was able to cross the political divide. 

“I also travelled to Manchester just after the IRA bombed the city (in 1996) to support Steve Collins when he was fighting Nigel Benn, so what happened in Paris wouldn’t put me off and I’ve every intention of travelling there.  

“We have been invited to one of the most beautiful and most prestigious cities in the world and we are determined to go there with our team.

“Our boxers have trained very hard for this event, and the coaches have put in a lot of voluntary work to prepare them.”

Bracken Boxing Club, which formed in 1985, is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and now has approximately 50 boxers and 10 coaches on its books. 

In September, the club defeated a German selection five bouts to three at an event held in the City North Hotel.

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