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Bernard Dunne says he is focusing on helping Irish amateur boxers and not on the political warfare that has resurfaced in recent times.
Just weeks before the European Olympic qualifiers and after months of rumors of internal fights at the IABA, an anonymous document has been leaked strongly criticizing Dunnes’ leadership and high performance setup.
Indeed, the document went so far as to claim the head of the former world champion and demanded that he be replaced with immediate effect.
Speaking this week and after Ireland secured their second best Olympic boxing qualifying spots, Dunne avoided the opportunity to strike back, saying the document and the ongoing fights did not catch his attention.
To be honest, I don’t see most of them, the high performance director told RTE.
My main goal is that the athletes are not distracted by this. My job is to serve them, serve the coaches and make sure they have everything they need to perform in terms of having the right restrictions and the right processes in place.
As we have seen here, the team played. They have now won 21 international medals in the past two and a half years.
Few would have predicted that Ireland would send a seven-person squad to Tokyo ahead of the long qualifying weekends, although background noise and broader issues did not fuel a happy tale.
Dunne always trusted him, but admitted there were obstacles to overcome.
I wouldn’t say we exceeded expectations. We came here with a plan for all of our athletes to have the opportunity to qualify. I am extremely happy for the seven who succeeded.
It’s been a long journey to get here, they’ve had to show real resilience to keep going through the last couple of years in particular. They worked hard, stayed motivated and were focused. I am delighted for the athletes, they have invested so much. They just have rewards in fairness to them.
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