The chairman of the Holy Family Boxing Club in Drogheda believes the changes implemented at an Irish Athletic Boxing Association EGM on Sunday are "wonderful" for the sport at grassroots level, despite government warnings that the IABA's public funding are set to be cut.
IABA members overwhelmingly voted against proposed governance reforms at an emergency general meeting in Co Roscommon.
Rejection of the vote means an immediate 15% cut in funding to the IABA and that clubs will not be able to access certain grants.
Board membership was also voted upon at the EGM, with Munster President Gerry O'Mahony replacing Dominic O’Rourke as National President, and a new Vice-President, secretary and registrar also being voted in.
Holy Family BC chair Jim Gorman says those changes can usher in a new era.
"We went in there under threats from the Minister of Sport [Jack Chambers], from Sport Ireland and the chairman of the board of directors and the CEO, that if we didn’t accept the motion yesterday all funding was to be withdrawn," Gorman told RTÉ Sport
"A lot of the clubs there (on Sunday) get no funding from Sport Ireland. A lot of the clubs fund themselves, as we do here.
"The clubs spoke in a big way (on Sunday). Change happened.
"Out of the 12 people on the Standing Committee, 10 of them were rejected by the clubs. We now have a new president in boxing. We now have a new vice-president, a new secretary, a new registrar and I think seven new members on Central Council.
"If that hasn’t sent a message to Jack Chambers, Sport Ireland or to the Board of Directors of the IABA, well then I don’t know..."
"There are a few young people on Central Council now, ex boxers, who boxed for Ireland, coach in their own clubs and know what is going on on the ground."
Ahead of the vote Irish Olympian Darren O'Neill told RTÉ Sport that he did not expect the reforms to be passed, but stressed there's "an appetite (for change) from the clubs. If you talk to club members, if you talk to the country clubs, or even the city clubs, they do want change. They want better opportunities for their boxers".
Gorman echoed those sentiments, adding: "People are away on holidays. Clubs are closed down for the summer. A lot of the clubs I would say didn’t even see the (McNeice) report. On top of that, the threats came. 'If you didn’t vote in Roscommon for this, we’re pulling the money'. They don’t have to pull money on Holy Faith Boxing in Drogheda, because we haven’t got it from them.
"We don’t understand the full implications of the McNiece report. I have to tell people out there, clubs have been ignored by Central Council for the last 18 months. Dictated to.
"This is the way forward for Irish boxing," he said, in reference to the new board. "There are a few young people on Central Council now, ex boxers, who boxed for Ireland, coach in their own clubs and know what is going on on the ground.
"Everything that happened (on Sunday) is wonderful for boxing."
Sport Ireland has said it will implement a suite of financial sanctions on the IABA until such time as the serious outstanding governance issues go unresolved.
These include a monthly payment schedule which covers operational and staffing costs only, and the exclusion of the IABA and its clubs from other grant schemes run by Sport Ireland. In the interest of minimising the already significant impact on athletes, this excludes services provided through the Sport Ireland Institute.
Sport Ireland say the sanctions will not have any impact on direct athlete funding delivered through the international carding scheme.
Those sanctions will be imposed this week, with the government now giving a two-month cooling off period for the IABA board to initiate making the changes sought by the state.
