We must expose these bullies once and for all
WHEN Katie Taylor’s handlers said they had security concerns about bringing the world champion to Dublin for what would be a hometown sell-out, many wondered. With one man dead, and two more – including her father Pete – critically injured from gunshot wounds, that wonder has given way to outrage.
A man has been murdered in cold blood. There comes a point when a Government must demonstrate that there is an iron fist behind the velvet glove of State. It must be used to the devastating effect to smash these bullies once and for all. Now is just such a time. As a girl, Katie had to tog out in a local pub’s toilets as there were no changing rooms for girls. Undeterred, her brilliance in the ring drew such admiration and attention that the powers that be were shamed into giving Bray Boxing Club a makeover.
Katie won that round. And any cowardly gunman or gang who thinks it is OK to turn up at a ringside and open fire on unarmed civilians must learn that there is no hiding place. Muhammad Ali said that: “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”
Katie Taylor proved the point in dazzling style; winning recognition and respect all over the globe for strength and courage. The cowards responsible for this atrocity are the polar opposite of the Bray hero. They have attempted to defile what Katie transformed into a shrine to sporting excellence. They must be hunted down, humiliated and exposed as the spineless runaways they are.
Katie won fame and favour around the world on her own. Gardaí and all who believe in law and order must send out a resounding message that she is no longer on her own. She and her family must rest assured that gun law will not keep our greatest living sportswoman out of her own backyard.
The good name of boxing has taken a battering for long enough. The best fighters have shown that the defeat is not declared when you fall down. That happens when you refuse to get back up. It is time to hit back.