Mr. Joe Christle:

Yes, it only related to money. There was going to be no change in his role. The IABA, at board level or at any level, never sought for Billy Walsh to not be the head coach of high performance.

The IABA was completely satisfied with his performance. Even at the meeting in the Irish Management Institute, IMI, and notwithstanding the severance terms, the package relating to the fixed-term employment and the level of wage increase offered to him, it was stated that he would still be in place as the highest paid permanent employee and that we would seek to get him a 5% or 10% wage increase and fight for every bonus so that he could remain as head coach. These were the two options and they were always open. At no time after he became the head coach did anyone in the IABA seek to remove him from that position. This is the slightly invidious position in which the IABA finds itself as a result of media coverage. It is why an independent review might be one measure that could repair the resulting reputational damage to the IABA.

To some degree, the board of directors takes the view that Sport Ireland and the IABA must move on and work together. We have a shared goal, namely, that there be no negative effect on those who have qualified for the Rio Olympic Games. This is the goal of the IABA and I believe that it is the goal of the ISC. Anything that hampers that relationship would need to be considered carefully before engaging in it.