Ireland's hopes of competing at future Olympic Games has received a major boost after a resolution was passed to remove all references to the International Boxing Association (IBA) from the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) constitution.
Requiring a 51% majority, 73 of the 145 clubs who registered for Saturday's EGM at the National Stadium voted in favour, with 40 against and a further 27 votes spoilt - meaning the resolution was comfortably passed.
Had it been defeated, and the IABA remained solely aligned with the IBA, Irish boxing's Olympic future was in grave danger.
Just days after Kellie Harrington landed Olympic gold in Paris, Sarah Keane, president of the Olympic Federation of Ireland (OFI), raised the prospect of a new national body being set up to run boxing if the IABA did not sever its links with the IBA.
She also stated that the OFI would withdraw recognition of the IABA as the national federation, at the request of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), unless the IABA linked up with World Boxing - a rival federation set up in April 2023, whose aim is to secure the future of Olympic boxing.
And the OFI reiterated those points in a letter sent to boxing clubs across the country on the eve of the EGM, saying that the IABA must "remove itself completely from the IBA".
Today's vote to remove references to the IBA from its constitution does not equate to a complete departure at this stage, but opens the door to a future vote on joining World Boxing, which is expected to take place in the coming months.
However, the OFI said it "will need this further action to be taken by November" if the IABA is to remain a member.
At the last IABA EGM, held in August 2023, a special resolution that would have opened the door to a move to World Boxing was defeated after 71% of delegates voted in favour, with a 75% majority required.
Boxing’s Olympic future remains shrouded in doubt, as it remains off the programme for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
After excommunicating the IBA from the Olympic movement in the wake of the 2016 Rio Olympics and subsequent McLaren report, which found widespread evidence of "corruption, bribery and the manipulation of sporting results", the IOC has organised subsequent boxing tournaments at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games and Paris 2024.
However, the IOC insists that, for governance reasons, it is not in a position to organise another Olympic boxing tournament. To keep boxing on the programme for LA, it wants "a recognised and reliable international federation" as a partner.
Niall O'Carroll, chair of the IABA board of directors, said of today's vote: "Today was a hugely positive day for Irish boxing. Clubs have called their own EGM and have decided they want to remove IBA from our constitution. This will, when those changes are voted on, mean that clubs have the freedom to work with clubs in any federation they want, including the USA, England, Germany, and others. This is vital for the development of our clubs and our boxers.
"It's equally important that we acknowledge our status as Ireland’s most successful Olympic Sport, and the heritage that stems from that incredible status. I know some club members have stated on social media that the Olympics is just a two week tournament every four years – but it’s much more than that. It’s the dream of kids when they first walk in club house doors. They want to be Kellie Harrington. We want them to have that opportunity and today, we moved a step closer to making sure they can still hold that dream
"It is the clubs, and only the clubs, who will decide if IABA leaves, or joins, any international federation. One of the things I will do is to contact the IBA and World Boxing – the IBA to get clarity on a number of issues, World Boxing to understand what their plans are with regard to creating competitions for the future because, at the moment, there just aren’t the competitions for kids."
