Dear members,
The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) are delighted to announce that following extensive work conducted by the sub-committee of the board of directors and consultation with the funders Sport Ireland, that we can now begin the process of the distribution of this much needed Covid-19 Resilience funding amongst our affiliated clubs.
The IABA were successful in securing €725,000 through two tiers of Sport Ireland’s Covid-19 Resilience funding. €225,000 was secured through the National Governing Body (NGB) stream of funding and €500,000 was secured through the Club Resilience stream of funding.
The decision has been taken by the Board that the €225,000 which was secured through the National Governing Body (NGB) stream of funding is to be used towards the insurance cost of the organisation for this season. This in turn means that all Clubs/County Boards & Provincial Councils who were successfully affiliated during season 2019/20 will not have to pay any insurance costs to the IABA for the current season, subject to the successful completion of the IABA’s 2020/21 affiliation process.
The Board of Directors have also agreed that the €500,000 which was secured through the Club Resilience stream of funding is to be distributed as widely as possible. This in turn will allow all eligible affiliated clubs to draw down from this much needed funding. The board felt that given the negative financial impact experienced and currently still being experienced by all of our clubs, that this was the fairest and most equitable way to distribute these funds.
IABA Staff members over the coming days will begin contacting our clubs to facilitate the distribution of these funds. Clubs looking to access this funding will need to follow the process outlined by staff and provide all requested information.
It should be noted that the €500,000 secured through the Club Resilience stream of funding refers only to clubs based in the Republic of Ireland. Sport NI are currently working with our Ulster staff in relation to resilience funding for our clubs in their jurisdiction. Our Ulster staff team have been engaging with these clubs and will continue to do so throughout the process.
IABA Chairman, Ciaran Kirwan and President Dominic O’Rourke on receiving this news “would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the IABA and its board to thank Sport Ireland for their assistance and support to date. Furthermore, they would like to thank all our clubs and members for their patience, understanding and hard work throughout. There is understandably a high threshold for the distribution of public money which can lead to frustration amongst those waiting to access this funding. However, it is vitally important for the IABA that these processes are managed in the correct fashion. We would now ask all clubs who are contacted by our staff team to engage in the process in the requested fashion, as only clubs who complete the process will be eligible to avail of this funding.”
Following what has been arguably the toughest year in the organisation’s history, today’s news comes as a much-welcomed ray of light during what has been an extremely dark period.
Wishing you all a happy, safe and successful New Year.
Fergal Carruth CEO IABA