Rowing club captain said getting a permanent home was bittersweet, against the backdrop of a wider struggle faced by many voluntary sports organisations trying to find just that
For boxers in County Wicklow, where World and Olympic Champion Katie Taylor grew up, and where Paris 2024 Olympian Daina Moorehouse still trains, the move sees them lose a state-of-the-art facility that was purpose-built in 2014, with the help of €300,000 in government and local authorities funding.
The building had originally been a boat shed in Bray Harbour, before Taylor’s father Pete acquired it in 2005 to turn it into a training gym for Katie and other local boxers. She won 18 major gold medals from that base.
However, she left to train in the US before the 2016 Rio Olympics. Two years later, the gym’s history was tragically interrupted on June 5, 2018, when a gunman opened fire during an early morning training session, killing Bobby Messett. Following the tragedy, the council took possession, leading to years of legal disputes.
Having been unused for nearly a decade, now the building is set to come full circle, as it returns to its nautical roots.
For the rowing club, which celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2025, the move is a turning point that rescues them from a precarious future.
Bray Rowing Club captain Andy O’Reilly has described the approval of the club as the new occupants of the building as “great news” for the sport, but warned that significant work and fresh fundraising now lie ahead.
Speaking after the local authority signed off on the recommendation, Mr O’Reilly acknowledged the decision was a difficult one, coming as it did against the backdrop of a wider struggle faced by voluntary sports organisations trying to find permanent homes.
“It’s terrible when you think that we’re all voluntary lads and there’s no premises to teach kids,” he said, adding that it was “sad” to see multiple clubs competing against each other for space.
Mr O’Reilly, who attended the original presentations, said hearing four different clubs appeal for premises highlighted the struggles faced by many community groups and clubs.
“We should be putting more money into our community to get people off the street,” he said.
While welcoming the council’s vote as a huge boost for the club, he said it now faces substantial remediation costs before boats can be stored and launched from the site.
The club has been told it must appoint its own structural engineer to assess works required, including creating a new opening at the front of the building. This means it’s “back to the fundraising” for the members, which is something that they are well used to given their efforts in recent years following the deterioration of the clubhouse on the promenade.
Bray Boxing Club building in Bray.
He confirmed that the council had ruled out using its own engineers, meaning the club will need to return to the fundraising drives as soon as possible. Asked about how much will be required to revamp the club for its purposes, he said it “could be forty or fifty grand worth of work”.
Despite this, Mr O’Reilly said the club is hopeful it can begin using parts of the building this year.
“We’ll still be using the premises, just not for boats,” he explained, adding that once structural changes are completed, the building, given its location is “perfect” for rowing, allowing boats to be wheeled directly to the river even at low tide.
Beyond rowing infrastructure, he said the new base will allow the club to train year-round for the first time, with a permanent gym space upstairs, something that will be a “ huge bonus” for the community.
He also stressed that accessibility and disability inclusion would be central to how the building is adapted, pointing to the experience of club member Keith Armstrong, the determined wheelchair user who raised funds with the club so they could get an adaptive rowing boat.
Mr O’Reilly said Keith’s presence has made inclusion “very real” for the club.
“If he wasn’t there, he’d just be left out,” he said. “Now he’s there, they’ll have to put facilities in, which is brilliant.”
Plans will include installing a lift between floors and exploring safer ways to transport athletes to the water. He said interest from other people with disabilities has been growing since Keith took to the water last summer.
“They see him doing it and they’re stopping now and asking,” Mr O’Reilly said.
Looking ahead to the immediate future, Mr O’Reilly said the next formal step is the signing of a 30-year sporting lease, after which the club expects to receive the keys and begin works.
The move marks a definitive end to a seven-year vacancy for the seafront facility, but the fallout has exposed a divide within the council chamber over the heritage of boxing in Bray. The debate reached a boiling point during the formal proposal at the local authority’s March monthly meeting this week, featuring a sharp exchange between Cllr Caroline Winstanley and Cllr Gerry O’Neill.
Cllr Winstanley, who proposed the rowing club’s nomination, lauded the move as a way to revitalise a long-dormant community asset.
“It’s great to see this building being brought back into use,” Cllr Winstanley told the chamber. “Bray Rowing Club is a well-established organisation… and facility will give them a platform.”
However, Cllr O’Neill immediately challenged her delivery and the transparency of the decision.
“I don’t agree with this going through here. I think it’s been done in an underhand manner. I believe that the club, the former club there, it was fitted out with up to a quarter of a million spent on it specifically for the use of boxing.”
District manager Jackie Carroll and Cllr Erika Doyle strongly refuted claims of an “underhand” process.
Ms Carroll described the selection as “transparent, impartial, and unbiased”, noting that two boxing clubs had applied and been assessed alongside the rowing club.
Andrew O’Reilly at Bray Rowing Club
Cllr Doyle called Cllr O’Neill’s allegations “outrageous”, insisting that neutral professionals were used to ensure the premises went to the “most appropriate club” without political lobbying, a sentiment shared by Cllr Joe Behan.
Cllr John Snell voiced the discomfort felt by members outside the immediate district, who were being asked to ratify the decision. Cllr Snell’s contribution highlighted the long memory of the council’s unfulfilled promises to the boxing community.
“I’m around here long enough to remember the lobbying that went on for years in regard to providing a home for boxing within Bray,” Cllr Snell stated.
“We’ve seen world champions have progressed from the hard work that’s been put in on the ground. Boxing is, irrespective of what anyone says, it is the poor relation, not just in County Wicklow but in Ireland.”
“It’s hard for us elected members to come here today and vote, because ultimately we’re putting the sport of rowing higher than the sport of boxing.
“That’s what it feels like to me.”
Cllr Melanie Corrigan shared a deeply personal perspective to bridge the divide between supporting the new lease and championing local boxing.
Cllr Corrigan revealed that her support for the boxing community is rooted in her own family’s history with the sport. She referenced that her son is a professional boxer in Australia. He began his sporting journey at Enniskerry Boxing Club, the organisation currently displaced by the harbour decision.
Drawing on her experience as a mother of athletes, she spoke highly of head coach Paul O’Toole and the work the club does for local youth who might not get a chance otherwise.
Despite her personal ties, Cllr Corrigan maintained that her role as cathaoirleach required her to stand by the independent selection process.
Cllr Ian Neary has been a vocal critic of the lease since it was first proposed. With a strong background in local sports, he argued that the facility was purpose-built for boxing before its closure and should remain as such to support struggling clubs.
In contrast, Cllr Danny Alvey has prioritised the general need for improved sports facilities and housing for the growing population, backing the independent process that ultimately favoured the local rowing club.
Cllr Tom Fortune reminded the chamber that the original intent was always for boxing to have the facility, adding that it was “interesting that that could just be forgotten about”.
To prevent Bray’s storied boxing legacy from fading away, the council executive has made it an “absolute priority” to secure a permanent home for the Enniskerry and Liberty Boxing Club. This commitment ensures that these clubs, which currently have 2024 Paris Olympian Daina Moorehouse among their ranks, will be the focus of a search for a dedicated facility.
The rowing club’s first fundraiser will take place at 9am on Sunday, April 19, at Bray Rowing Club boat house (on the southern end of the promenade), where members will take on the challenge of rowing 308km, the distance from Bray to Fishguard, Wales and back, all on indoor rowing machines.