Mr. Liam Sheedy:

Absolutely, any sport starts with participation, which is clear. Participation is built and out of this, the strong ones come through. The bigger the pool at the bottom the greater the potential but 80% or 90% of the talent will operate in the participation pool. The cream will rise to the top and we need to ensure they can walk into a world-class high-performance structure. Billy Walsh oversaw that high-performance operation in boxing and what has been achieved in the ring has made us all stand up and take notice. It is phenomenal. It is unfortunate that we have ended up in here today speaking about what has happened over the past eight months. Mr. Walsh is more than a coach. He made an emotional connection with boxers and only over time will we understand whether this can be replaced.

It is great to hear that support structures are in place but he is a major loss to Irish boxing and sport.