6th October 2010
Trinity Boys Boxing Club in Donaghmede has found a novel way of raising money by convincing local politicians to get into the ring and selling tickets to the public.
All proceeds will go towards enabling hundreds of children and young people to take part in the Dublin Boxing Leagues, which had been at risk of not going ahead this year due to lack of sponsorship.
I have agreed to take part as I think it would have been a huge shame if the Leagues couldn’t take place this year. Boxing clubs do a great job of keeping teenagers in particular off the streets. The leagues give them something to aim for and encourage them to work hard and focus on being fit and healthy.
I was surprised when I got the call from the club asking me to take part in the competition as I’ve never been in a boxing ring before and to be honest I wasn’t sure that I’d be up to it. But the organiser Jason Bonney assured me that none of the competitors have boxed before and that they’ll train me to be fit enough to last three rounds in the ring. The competition is for such a good cause that I couldn’t say no. I started training two weeks ago and am really enjoying it.
There is a lot of comradery between the politicians of various parties as we all learn the ropes together. And there’s a great group of people involved in the boxing club. Trainers Ken and Greg are great motivators, encouraging me to work as hard as I can. Ken has a particular knack for noticing everytime I try to slack for a minute!! If there’s a boxer in me anywhere, they’ll find it!
The other politicians taking part are T.D. Darragh O’Brien, Councillors Aodhán O’Riordán, Neale Richmond, Cian O’Callaghan and Killian Forde and Green Party Local Representative for the Clontarf area Donna Cooney.
In the short time that I have been involved in the club, two things have really struck me. The first is the passion and commitment that the trainers put into teaching the kids and the second is how many women they have coming to the classes. One of the evenings, there were around twenty women of all different ages and skill levels there.
Watch this space for updates on my training regime and see www.thebattleofdublin.com to buy tickets (from €25) for the competition on 26th November.
