Katie Taylor and the European Senior Championships medal winning quintet of Paddy Barnes, Darren O'Neill, Eric Donovan, Tyrone McCullagh and Ken Egan shared the Elite Achievement Award as the IABA celebrated another outstanding year at its Annual Awards Night at the Louis Fitzgerald Hotel in Dublin last night.

 

Taylor, the current World, European, EU and Irish champion and AIBA World female boxer of the year, and Barnes, the reigning European, Commonwealth and Irish champion and 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, also shared the Best Overall Boxer award.

 

Current AIBA World Youth and Olympic Youth champions Joe Ward and Ryan Burnett had their remarkable achievements in 2010 recognised, while the Ryston BC in Kildare scooped the Best club and Best coaches awards in a year which sees the IABA celebrate its 100th birthday.

 

European bronze medalist and Irish senior champion Eric Donovan picked up the Elite boxer award. "I've have a fantastic twelve months and I'll be looking to improve on that this year, said the St Michael's Athy lightweight. "It's always special to receive an award like this and to receive it in the Association's centenary year is extra special."

 

Meanwhile, Jim McCourt was inducted into the IABA Hall of Fame.

 

McCourt, boxing out of the Immaculata BC in Belfast, won a bronze medal at the 1964 Olympics and a bronze medal at the 1965 European Championships. He also claimed Commonwealth gold in Jamaica in 1966 and seven Irish senior titles at three different weights in a stellar career spanning the 1960s and 1970s.

 

The Northern Ireland team were also honoured following their unprecedented haul of three gold and two silver medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India.

 

Geesala prospect Katie Rowland, a silver medal winner at the European Youth Championships, was back on top of the podium along with nine other boxers in the Schoolboy/girl Youth International category.

 

Sean Crowley was also inducted into the IABA Hall of Fame in recognition of his outstanding contribution as an administrator to Ireland's most successful Olympic sport, while Anna Moore and Al Morris got the decision in the best Referee & Judge category.

 

Last night's ceremony was attended by Dr John Lynch, Chairman of the IABA Board of Directors, IABA CEO Don Stewart, John Treacy, Chief Executive of the Irish Sports Council and Pat Hickey, President of the Olympic Council of Ireland and IABA Director of Boxing Dominic O'Rourke. RTE's Jimmy Magee acted as MC on the night.

 

IABA President Tommy Murphy said that Ireland's boxers were a credit to their country, adding that the achievements of 2010, one of which saw Ireland finish in second spot behind powerhouses Russia in the medals table at the European Championships, marked Ireland out as one of the top amateur boxing nations in the world.