Urlingford Boxing Club Campaign

A call to action to my readership

Sid Martin, Pat Stokes and Jason Scully of Urlingford Boxing Club.

Firstly I must apologise for my absence in the last few weeks from writing. I have been overwhelmed by all of the developments that have occurred. I could have written a thousand articles and therefore wrote none. I have also started a new job which has difficult hours leaving me unable to shift gears into writing mode as easily. I have also been engaged in a very condensed calendar of activist related activity, having been directly involved in the stoppage of no less than three IPAS centres in the county of Kilkenny in as many weeks. The pressure of the National protests have had a noticeable effect on the ground as routine demonstrations and informative videos at the gates of these places are now enough to bring them to a grinding halt. St Patrick’s Centre, an 18 acre super site, The Heather Court Hotel in Ballyragget and St. Catherine’s Nursing home in Freshford were all scuppered after massive anger locally with parents groups, service users and communities all rising up in their own way. Myself and Luke O’Connor made content at the front of these places, threatening the presence of protestors at the properties and also informing people by spreading the awareness across social media. In Ballyragget, a large march took place that eventually led to meeting being chaired by Cllr Maurice Shorthall. In all three cases the people behind these centres folded. This all happened in the wake of the national Protest. It cast a shadow over these centres, making the cold to touch for any of these greedy speculators.

As good as all of this is, I must admit another initiative has preoccupied my attention. The Urlingford Boxing Club. The club itself has been operating for over 30 years without a permanent location. The transient nature of the club, being displaced every few months, has caused great anguish locally to the club runners and the young people who desperately want to get involved. The local community groups are dominated by the upper middle class GAA types, who themselves own all of the major infrastructure in the town, but also hold the keys to the town hall and are disinterested, hostile even, to anything like a boxing club in the place. As people might be aware, I was the organiser against the imposition of IPAS/Ukrainian migrant centre in the town. That protest exposed the chasm between the two economic social groups. The wealthy business owners and the forgotten underclass. In Urlingford, this classism is far more pronounced than I can fully convey here in words. Having grown up in the town I bore witness to the boxing clubs struggles against local politics. This problem is so bad that even something as simple as a football team would be met with extreme hostility from the entrenched GAA crowd. In all cases it was the same people trying to organise a new sports team or club and the same champagne enclave of bigots going against it. This has been the case for the last 30 years. In the days following the boots on the ground protests in the town, the town hall was awarded a €500,000 grant for a total refurbishment. This I feel was the source of the sudden withdrawal of support for the protest at the time but most importantly there was a key detail of this funding award that didn’t sit right with me. The Urlingford Boxing Club was not included in the spending plan, nor were they granted access to the new and improved town hall when it was finished re-construction. The current location of the UBC is in the neighbouring town of Freshford, shamefully having to rent the town hall there instead.

This travesty has been allowed to happen for 30 years straight for this club. I can’t imagine how much state funding has gone through the town in that time and straight into the hands and the benefit of a small group of familiar people, many of whom live miles outside the town on farms and in large country homes. The situation is perfectly captured by this Kilkenny Observer article where the author describes the circumstances that the club operate under.

The club has actively sought sports grants to alleviate these financial pressures, but unfortunately, we have not been successful in our applications. We are deeply grateful to the Freshford Community Hall and its board of management for their continued support as our longest-serving tenants. Their good relationship with the club has been invaluable over the years.

Coming from the travelling community myself, many members of my community see this club as a a lifeline for their young people. Near and distant members of my own clan, the Delaneys, among many other clans travel far and wide to come to this club to secure training time with Pat, Sid and Jason. A nephew of mine on my mother’s side also boxes in the club and I have even brought my daughter along for a few sessions. Due to my exposure to the club, which I attended as young boy myself, and witnessing its story up till now, I have admittedly become personally invested in its success. Due to this desire to help the club I have contacted who I believe to be the best councillor in the LEA, Cllr. Maurice Shorthall and conveyed the situation. Maurice informed me that combat sports, wrestling and event promotions are his bread and butter and he will look into anything he can do to help the UBC. Two months passed by after our conversation and lo and behold a golden opportunity has presented itself. Maurice reached out to me last week looking for Pat Stokes number, sharing with me the following image.

The local council has announced that the old fire station building in Urlingford is to be handed over to a community group or club, pending a submission process. The building itself is purpose built for a boxing club with shower facilities, a mid sized main building and large shed out the back that would easily fit a ring and boxing bags. The GAA pitch across the road has a new running track around it also, meaning that the club would have a full suite of fitness amenities in their lap. But that is not the best part of all of this.

The club chairman Pat Stokes spent 26 years of his life serving as a fireman in that very building and lives only a hundred yards or so behind it. There isn’t a single man, woman or child who deserves the stewardship of that building more than him. I made the connection between Cllr. Shorthall and Pat and they have agreed to go forward with a submission. It is now over to the court of public opinion. The other submissions, currently unknown, will likely be a mix of NGO quango’s or some form of elitist club or society, likely using a noble cause as a front to acquire the property. It is time to fight for the forgotten people of the town and to right the wrongs of the last thirty years.

What I am asking people to do is to contact the list of councillors below and compel them to support the Cllr. Maurice Shorthall backed Urlingford Boxing Club submission.

• cllrjohn.brennan@kilkennycoco.ie

• cllrmaryhilda.cavanagh@kilkennycoco.ie

• cllrmichael.delaney@kilkennycoco.ie

• cllrpat.fitzpatrick@kilkennycoco.ie

• cllrmichael.mccarthy@kilkennycoco.ie

• cllrmichael.delaney@kilkennycoco.ie

• cllrmaurice.shortall@kilkennycoco.ie

I am also asking you to like, share and comment on the official council post on this with your support of the club.