IABA’s DEI Officer, Patrick Adejayan, is hosting a series of events celebrating diversity and inclusion within the boxing family. These evenings will share storytelling and lived-experience of boxing club leaders in each province on the D&I journey in their club.
Speakers will include: Gabe Cronnelly, Phil Sutcliffe, Lynda McGrath, Fergus Turner, Nicola Hayden, Paddy Dingle, Stephen Dixon and Shane Curran
Each evening will also explore, through an Irish Centre for Diversity workshop:
The facts and myths of Diversity & Inclusion (D&I)
What D&I is – and what it isn’t
The benefits of D&I in sport generally, and within the IABA specifically
How D&I can be embedded at local/provincial levels
Potential D&I goals and how these might be achieved
How success can be measured – using both short- and long-term metrics, including data on current positioning and future goals
Workshop Dates & Locations – all events begin at 6pm.
Tralee Thursday, 7th August 2025: Benners Hotel Tralee, Upper Castle Street, Tralee, Co. Kerry
23 champions will be crowned at the home of Irish Boxing this Friday evening, with the culimation of the 2025 National U19 Championships.
Boxing in this competition, in which 130 boxers from 45 clubs have taken part, began on July 4th.
Finals Programme
Boxing begins at 6pm on Friday, July 18th. All programmes are subject to change.
44kg Lauren Long (Tipperary Town) W/O 46kg Emily Midwinter (Rosslare) W/O 46kg Jake Redmond (Blessington) V Dillon Donnelly (St Pauls A) 48kg Keely Stevens (Charlestown) V Chloe Cox (Setanta) 48kg Aleksesj Iazic (St Nicholas) V Daniel O’Connell (Kanturk) 50kg Kurt Kinsella (Monkstown D) V Caoimhin Connelly (Twin Towns) 51kg Isabel Nolan (Santry) V Kayleigh Byrne (Gorey) 54kg Tegan Farrelly (Dunboyne) V Jessica Gallagher (Mulhuddart) 55kg Michael Reilly (St Pauls Wat) V Edward E Corcoran (Mullingar Elite) 57kg Grace Conway (Tredagh) V Alexis O’Brien (Nutgrove) 60kg Kerry Brown (Convoy) V Kelsey Langan (Ballina) 60kg Sean McCusker (Dealgan) V Christopher Cranny (Nutgrove) 65kg Sarah Murphy (St Brigids Kildare) V Siofra Lawless (Four Kings) 65kg John Donoghue (Olympic L) V Charlie Mulligan (Cookstown) 70kg Katelyn Butler (St Colmans) V Chloe Poleon (Dunboyne) 70kg David Nevin (Mullingar Elite) V Patrick Kelly (St Abbans/Kilmyshall) 75kg Caoilfhionn Grant Moloney (Togher)V Nessa Tabachuk (Celtic Eagles) 75kg Jason Whelan (Dublin Docklands) V Reuben Aigbologa (Mayfield) 80kg Molly Mae Higgins (Rathnew) W/O 80kg Ricky Kiely (Midleton) V Stephen Murphy (Celtic Eagles) 85kg Kieran Reilly (St Saviours OBA) V Chulainn McDonnell (Whitechurch) 90kg Shay O’Dowd (Swords) V Christopher Stokes (Crumlin) 90+kg Solomon Udeze (Portlaoise) V Jude Fitzgerald (Dungarvan)
Tickets
Tickets for Friday’s finals are available for purchase on the door at the National Stadium
Advisories:
Boxers weigh in every day they box. Record books & Passports to be presented by the boxer at their initial weigh-in. No information from the passport will be retained.
Booking is now open for IABA’s Coaching Teenage Girls online workshop.
It is open to all coaches and focusses on retention of teenage girls, the psycho-social needs of teenage girls in sport, practical strategies to foster the coach/athlete relationship and the affect puberty has on the mind and body of teenage girls and how can coaches support this.
The workshop has four sections:
What we know about teenage girls in sport and the role of the coach
Inside the mind and body of teenage girls
The coaching environment
Opportunities beyond the workshop
Particulars
Date: Tuesday, 29th July
Time: 6pm – 9pm
Location: Online – Microsoft Teams
Cost: €10
Registration: via the Workshop section of your club’s Blocworx portal
Details of more online and in-person Coaching Teenage Girls workshops will be made available shortly.
The Team Ireland team to contest IABA’s inaugural World Boxing event, the World Boxing Championships in Liverpool, England September 4th to 14th, has been named – and includes Olympians, World and European medalists.
The 17 strong team are drawn from Belfast (2), Donegal (1), Dublin (4), Galway (2), Offaly (1), Roscommon (2), Sligo/Leitrim (1), Waterford (2), Westmeath (1), Wicklow (1); all were crowned 2025 Elite Competition champions on June 4th at Belfast’s Girdwood Community Hub. That competition was the first to take place within IABA at World Boxing weights and was staged with the collaboration and support of IABA’s Central Council, led by President Anto Donnelly, and Ulster and Antrim regional councils.
The team includes Paris Olympians Daina Moorehouse (51kg), Jenny Lehane (54kg), Grainne Walsh (65kg), Dean Clancy (65kg) and Jack Marley (90kg), alongside double Olympians Michaela Walsh (57kg) and Aoife O’Rourke (75kg). Aoife’s sister Lisa (70kg), who won World silver in March alongside her sibling, has also been named. So too have 2024 European U23 medalists Louis Rooney (50kg), Patsy Joyce (55kg) and Martin McDonagh (90+kg)
Contesting this Championships is made possible by IABA clubs’ decision in April to also affiliate to World Boxing, on a dual member basis. World Boxing, which will run boxing at the LA28 Olympic Games, affirmed IABA as a member in May.
National Performance Director, Jon Mackey, will lead the team in Liverpool in the first benchmark championships since his appointment in April. He says “This is a red-letter event for Irish Boxing, our first World Boxing World Championships. The selected team is awash with talent and potential – some boxers are veterans of international benchmark competition and for others, it will be their first outing at this level. The squad has been in training and evaluation in the High Performance Unit since mid-June, working with our coaching team of Zauri Antia, Damian Kennedy, Eoin Pluck, Lynne McEnery and James Doyle, and engaging with Sport Science Medical practitioners in the Institute of Sport – it’s coaches and practitioners of this calibre that make the difference at World level”
Jon adds “I want to thank IABA President, Anto Donnelly, and all on Central Council, for the collaborative leadership approach they took in staging the 2025 National Elite Competition. This decision meant boxers moving weight to align with World Boxing’s categories had the time to do so safely and well -keeping athlete welfare is at the centre of decision-making in Irish Boxing.”
National Performance Head Coach, Zauri Antia, says “Our boxers are in a great place – focused, technically and tactically prepared. They know what’s ahead of them and will continue their path building skill and fitness levels over the next 7 weeks, as we level-up preparations. It’s an honour to be selected to represent your country, especially so at World level – I want to congratulate every boxer on their selection, as well as their clubs, club coaches and families”
Team Ireland will, as part of continued preparation for the World Championships, participate in a multi-nations training camp at the GB Boxing base in Sheffield, in the last two weeks in August.
Team Ireland
51kg Daina Moorehouse, of Enniskerry BC, Wicklow.
54kg Jenny Lehane of DCU Boxing Club, Dublin.
57kg Michaela Walsh of Holy Family Golden Gloves BC Belfast.
60kg Zara Breslin of Tramore BC, Waterford.
65kg Grainne Walsh of St. Mary’s BC, Tallaght, Dublin.
70kg Lisa O’Rourke of Castlerea BC, Co. Roscommon
75kg Aoife O’Rourke of Castlerea BC, Co. Roscommon
50kg Louis Rooney of Star BC, Belfast
55kg Patsy Joyce of Olympic BC, Mullingar Co. Westmeath
6okg Adam Hession of Monivea BC, Co. Galway
65kg Dean Clancy of Sean McDermott BC, Co. Leitrim.
70kg Matthew McCole of Illies Golden Glove BC Co. Donegal
75kg Gavin Rafferty of Dublin Docklands Boxing Club
80kg Kelyn Cassidy of Saviours Crystal BC, Co. Waterford
85kg Brian Kennedy of St. Brigid’s BC Edenderry Co. Offaly
90kg Jack Marley of Monkstown BC, Dublin
90+kg Martin McDonagh of Galway BC
Support Staff
Team Manager: Jon Mackey, National Performance Director
Head Coach: Zauri Antia
Coaches: Damain Kennedy, Lynne McEnery, Eoin Pluck, James Doyle and JP Delaney
Doctor: Jim Clover
Lead Physio: Rob Tuomey
Logistics Support: Sean Crowley, High Performance Manager
