Donore fights to help kids

THEY regard themselves as one of the top boxing clubs in Dublin, but now Donore Boxing Club has the biggest fight yet on their hands.

The South city club wants to highlight the impact that sport has in deprived areas.

Thay are also battling to ensure  that they are considered during the Regeneration Programme developed by Dublin City Council that aims to improve the quality of the environment within which locals live, work and play in the city.

The clubs want the council to understand how important sporting infrastructure is to a deprived area.

 “We need to highlight the lack of facilities in the area,” said Head Coach with the club, Gerry Balfe Smyth.

“If there is nothing for kids to do they turn to crime and get involved in gangs. It costs €80,000 a year to put someone into Mountjoy. We have this place open four to five days a week producing champions. We are trying to highlight that fact to the council and that they need to invest in us.” 

Since 1972 the club has been training out of two council flats knocked together on Donore Avenue in the St Teresa’s Gardens area of the Liberties.

But the club says that they need proper facilities where children can train and compete in the sport.

“We are stuck living in the 1980s so we need proper facilities to provide these kids with an outlet,” Gerry added. “It gives them the confidence and the strength to make the right decisions when it comes to the choice of a life of selling drugs or staying fit and healthy.”

Gerry said the club has been in the area for a long time and has helped give children a positive outlet away from crime and drugs.

 “During the 1980s, when there were kids dying with needles in their arms, this club was here,” he stated.

According to Gerry, the regeneration for the area was first discussed back in 2006.

“It’s been a long road but we’ve had positive meetings with the Regeneration Board and the council who fully support us,” he said. “Joan Collins TD has also been a great help to us. We just need to turn the good wishes into some action.”

Donore Boxing Club now boasts over 40 members, and has seen a significant increase in the number of young girls taking up the sport. Gerry says that while this is partly down to the success of Katie Taylor it is also due to the inclusion of boxing as an Olympic sport, as children now have aspirations to fight for their country.

Three of the girls in the club are on the County Dublin Boxing team, Chloe O’Brien, Ellie Mills and Megan McEvoy; but the club is no stranger to success

 “One year, in a fight against East Germany, eight of the 12 fighters came from Donore,” Gerry revealed. “We’ve had a European bronze medallists and many Irish champions and international boxers have come from Donore.”

REPORT: Aaron McIlroy