Katie Taylor finale reignites row over rowing club taking over former Bray Boxing Club building
The Wicklow PeopleKatie Taylor’s farewell victory at Croke Park on Saturday has reignited a row in her Wicklow hometown over funding for local boxing clubs and the reallocation of the former Bray Boxing Club building, where she used to train, to a local rowing club.
Speaking as his colleagues paid tribute to the local hero, following a screening of her fight on Bray’s seafront, Cllr Gerry O’Neill warned that they should not “pat ourselves on the back” for staging a major public celebration of Katie Taylor while grassroots facilities remain undelivered.
His intervention at Wicklow County Council’s September monthly meeting, pulled the discussion back to promises he feels were made to local boxing clubs, and a move to assign Bray Boxing Club’s former home near Bray Harbour to Bray Rowing Club, who needed a place close to the shore to open a fit-for-purpose clubhouse.
Cllr O’Neill began by acknowledging the scale of Taylor’s final fight against Flora Pili and his own personal connection to her, recalling that he had known her “from when she was a child”.
However, he added that he had received calls from Enniskerry Boxing Club and others who felt forgotten amid the fanfare. The club, he said, had been assured of support and access to suitable facilities, yet nothing had materialised.
In attendance at the official opening of Bray Boxing Club were junior minister Michael Ring, left, along with boxers Katie Taylor and Adam Nolan. © SPORTSFILE
His frustration was not new; he has raised variations of the same point in previous meetings, often highlighting how commitments around premises, shared access and club accommodation have drifted without resolution.
This time, he tied the issue directly to the Katie Taylor fanzone event.
Officials in Bray, he said, are “great at this craic”, staging large public celebrations, drawing crowds, projecting civic pride, but the same urgency is not applied to supporting the next generation of boxers.
He referenced young fighters emerging from Enniskerry, including Shane Corrigan, now competing in Australia, and said it was wrong that clubs producing such talent were still waiting for basic support.
Bray district manager Jackie Carroll responded by reiterating that district officials in the town had made a commitment to procure a suitable facility for boxing clubs in the area.
She said the issue remained “a big priority” and that the district continued to work actively with the clubs to identify and develop an appropriate space. But, as in previous exchanges, no timeline was provided.
Following the meeting, Bray Rowing Club captain Andy O’Reilly described how contracts and a lease agreement allowing them full access to the former Bray Boxing Club building are in the process of being finalised.
Bray Rowing Club senior members: Andy O'Reilly, Gary Cooper, David Archer, Graham Ivory and Tony Dutton at the annual regatta. © Leigh Anderson
The club then faces substantial remediation costs before boats can be stored and launched from the site.
The building, officially opened in 2014, was home to Bray Boxing Club until a fatal attack on June 5, 2018.
Gerard Cervi from the East Wall area in Dublin 3, was found guilty of Robert ‘Bobby’ Messett murder at the boxing club by a unanimous jury verdict after two trials lasting a combined 17 weeks and was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2023. He was acquitted of attempting to murder Peter Taylor and Ian Britton.