There was good news for Castlebar Boxing Club this week, when it was confirmed that they would be getting a new home in the county town. At the February meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District a lease between the boxing club and Mayo County Council was approved for a building located at Lough Lannagh Holiday Village.
The club will lease the building for a period of 20 years and its location beside a number of other sporting facilities, such as Castlebar Tennis Club, and the new swimming pool which is under construction as part of the state-of-the-art Outdoor Pursuits Academy, will further enhance the location as a sports hub in the west of the country.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny, welcoming the news, said "I have been working closely with Castlebar Boxing Club on this issue for a number of years and I was happy to facilitate a visit to Castlebar by (now former ) Irish National Boxing Coach Billy Walsh and officials from the IABA. More recently, in January, I was happy to meet with officials from Lough Lannagh Holiday Village, the IABA and Castlebar Boxing Club along with Minister of State for Transport, Tourism and Sport Patrick O'Donovan T.D. to discuss the plans for a move to a more suitable site."
The move will see the club, which was founded in 1932, vacate its current premises at The Mall. The new facility will allow the boxing club to grow and in conjunction with the Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA ) to use the site as a regional centre of excellence in order to organise both national and international training camps in Castlebar.
