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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Robert Hynes

Billy Walsh calls on government and Sport Ireland to make people within IABA "accountable for their actions"

Billy Walsh has called on the government and Sport Ireland to make people within the Irish Athletic Boxing Association "accountable for their actions".

It comes after Bernard Dunne quit his role as the association's High Performance Director earlier this month.

Dunne had been on extended leave since the Tokyo Olympics and departed the role last week.

The 42-year-old lodged a complaint against two volunteers after an unsigned document was distributed to the IABA board last year which was critical of his stewardship of the high-performance unit.

The document was circulated prior to the Tokyo Games, where Irish boxers won two medals - Kellie Harrington (gold) and Aidan Walsh (bronze).

The IABA said in a statement last week that it "deeply regrets" Dunne's decision to quit the role he took on in 2017, adding that he had "reinvigorated" the high performance unit in the wake of a disastrous performance at the Rio Games.

"The IABA would also like to note that its acceptance of his resignation is provisional as it has asked Bernard to reconsider his decision," added the statement.

But Walsh believes too much damage has been done for Dunne to return to the role.

Kellie Harrington with Bernard Dunne (©INPHO/James Crombie)

The former IABA high performance director, who now works as USA Boxing's Head Coach, told RTE's Claire Byrne Live: "I think it's crazy to be at this stage.

"Three (high) performance directors later, two Oireachtas Committee meetings - which ended up just being talk shops - and nothing has happened.

"Nobody has stood up and actually taken these people to task. It's a disgrace. There's people's psychological welfare being affected by this.

"Sport Ireland, or the Irish Government, need to stand up and make people accountable for their actions - or their inactions.

"To leave was such a difficult thing for me. I spent lots of nights crying on my own. I was in Doha when I made the decision that I was going to resign.

"Psychologically I was in a bad place and I know Bernard has been in a bad place for several months now, because this has been going on since February 2021 and it hasn't been resolved. Nobody has stood up and supported me or supported Bernard. I think Sport Ireland has a lot to answer for."

Walsh, who compared IABA's central council selecting a boxing team to the Kilkenny county board picking Brian Cody's starting XV, believes Dunne is in a better place since leaving the role.

He said: "I think Bernard is in a better place now that he's made the decision. The turmoil to leave your dream job was very daunting for me and I know Bernard has had similar problems dealing with it. But now he's made the decision, he's in a better place."

Walsh added that he doesn't believe the former world champion will return to the role.

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