Cabra Boxing Club fights for a permanent home amid redevelopment plans
Cabra Boxing Club is in danger of becoming “homeless” if Dublin City Council doesn’t step in and provide a new building.
Head coach of the club Damien Flood has spoken to Dublin Live about the challenges that Cabra Boxing Club will face as a result of the Ballyboggan redevelopment. With Council plans to develop new infrastructure in the area of Bannow Road, Mr Flood is fearful the dozens of young boxers who rely on their facility could be left behind if a "permanent home” isn’t found for the club.
“We have 60 to 70 kids that come regularly and train we’re a nearly full-time operation that’s all voluntary without any funding,” Mr Flood explained. “All done by the coaches and the staff for the love of boxing.
“Boxing guides them for their whole life. We have children coming from all walks of life - from the Travelling community, the settled community, the migrant community - everyone. We’re worried that when they rebuild on Bannow Road that we’ll be gone, because it is going to come down the line.”
While there are no firm dates on the demolition of Cabra Boxing Club’s building, plans for new developments in the area are outlined in the Council’s Baile Bogáin Masterplan 2025. Although supporting local enterprise and employment is a key tenet of the plan, without any firm assurances from the Council, Mr Flood still fears for the future of the club.
These comments come following the Council’s recent request for an extra €34 million in funding to redevelop the home of Bohemian FC, Dalymount Park, in Phibsborough. Mr Flood questioned if there’s so much funding available for a football stadium, that there is surely room to support local boxing.
“We don’t get help from anyone. That’s why we’re crying out for a little bit of help. A little bit of funding,” Mr Flood pleaded. “Give us our own building. We’ll change it. We’ll decorate. We’ll move all the equipment ourselves. Just give us somewhere we can call home, permanently."
The Cabra Boxing Club was founded in 2013 and has had seven Irish champions in this year alone. With young champions like Macie O’Connor taking home a European silver medal just last week, Mr Flood believes it's important to invest in young athletes who could become the future sports stars of Ireland.
“It’s life changing for the kids that come in here. There’s some that come from broken homes and boxing puts them on the straight and narrow and gives them a bit of discipline,” Mr Flood said.
“Boxing always gets the least amount of support financially. It’s always the soccer teams and GAA teams and we always seem to be at the bottom of the barrel. And we’re Ireland's most successful Olympic sport.
“It’s through clubs like ourselves and all the amateur clubs in Ireland that has brought Irish boxing to Olympic level. We want to give them the best opportunity that they have.”
Mr Flood highlighted Independent Councillor Gavin Pepper as a constant supporter of the club. At the November monthly meeting of Dublin City Council , Cllr Pepper highlighted the plight of Cabra Boxing Club during discussions around the funding of Dalymount Park .
“I believe boxing clubs are vital. It doesn’t matter if there’s only 20 kids in it, that’s 20 children off the streets and away from anti-social behaviour,” Cllr Pepper said. He stressed the need to allocate funding for children's sports in disadvantaged areas and ensure young people are provided with proper facilities.
“If you invest in these communities, you get it back, because all the children have something to do,” Cllr Papper said. “It shows kids in working-class areas that they won’t be forgotten about.”
Cllr Pepper cited Cabra Boxing Club as an important producer of future stars and asked: “How can we produce the next Katie Taylor or Bernard Dunne if we don’t have the facilities?” With other important clubs in Finglas, Ballymun and all over Dublin, Cllr Pepper questioned why boxing isn’t prioritised for funding in the same way as football or other sports.
A statement from Dublin City Council on this was issue was as follows:
"Cabra Boxing Club is recognised as an important sports and community resource in the Cabra area. It is emphasised that Cabra Boxing Club is fully supported in its current location. The implementation of the Broombridge-Hamilton Masterplan (formerly Ballyboggan) will help ensure that important community uses such as the Boxing Club can be retained as the area undergoes redevelopment into a sustainable community in the coming years.
"The Masterplan’s implementation will also present opportunities for the further growth and development of sporting clubs and their facilities as part of the regeneration process. Dublin City Council Sports Plan 2024 – 2029 will guide Dublin City Council’s continued investment in the development of sport and recreation facilities in the area."
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