Employment Dispute – IABA and Bernard Dunne Settle

An employment dispute between the Irish Athletic Boxing Association and Bernard Dunne has been settled.

A deal was reached after last-ditch talks at the Workplace Relations Commission, where a public hearing into a statutory complaint by the Clondalkin man was due to be heard.

Now head of the Indian High Performance Team, Dunne attended the hearing via video-link from China but was not required to address the inquiry.

Rather his counsel, Seamus Collins, told the WRC that a ‘consensus’ had been reached between the former world champion and his former employers.

“A settlement has been reached. We’re happy to adjourn for four weeks pending implementation,” he said.

Counsel for the IABA, Mark Harty SC, confirmed the same..

No details of the exact nature of the statutory complaint made by Dunne against the IABA was shared.

The Clondalkin native resigned from his position as High Performance Director at the IABA in May of last year.

The former CIE and St Matthews amateur took up the role in 2017 and oversaw a transitional period in Irish amateur boxing.

Dunne was at the helm for a rebuild after a disappointing Rio Olympics and the departure to the pro ranks of some of Ireland’s greatest-ever amateurs.

That attempted rebuild took place among some very unhelpful infighting within the IABA and Dunne will argue it was successful considering Ireland won only our third boxing gold at the Tokyo Olympics as well as another bronze.

The Clondalkin man ignored calls to reconsider his decision and took up a similar role in India, who took home three medals in the World Championships in the first time in their history.