Micheal O’Reilly honoured in home town
Michael O’Reilly was publicly honoured in his hometown of Portlaoise last night.
Laois County County CEO Pat Murphy and Cathaoirleach Catherine Fitzgerald and Councillors led a Civic Reception for the Irish middleweight in recognition of his outstanding achievement in winning gold at the inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan in June.
O’Reilly, who boxes out of the Portlaoise BC, will carry Ireland’s middleweight hopes into next month’s AIBA World Elite Men’s Championships and Olympic qualifiers in Doha, Qatar.
O’Reilly qualified for Qatar from the European Games. The current Irish Elite champion has also won European Union, European Youth and European Schoolboy medals for Ireland and will be included in the AIBA World rankings for the first time later this month.
The 22-year-old added to his impressive collection of international medals with a top of the podium finish at the Feliks Stamm Memorial in Warsaw, Poland last Saturday.
Fergal Carruth, CEO of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, and Breandán Ó Conaire, former President of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, attended last night’s Civic Reception.
Pat Ryan, manager and coach at the Portlaoise BC, was it was an honour to receive public recognition.
“It is a fantastic accolade from the people of Laois and a very proud moment for our club to have one of our boxers publicly honoured by our own people,” he said.
