Can Katie Taylor's former boxing club in Bray shake off its murder-scene stigma?

Irish Times

2 days ago

Olympic boxing coach Pete Taylor has claimed
Wicklow County Council (WCC)
removed all his belongings and equipment from Bray Boxing Club, materials which he values at €200,000, and has called the continued closure of the club a 'disgrace'.
WCC, meanwhile, said it will be looking for expressions of interest this month from sports clubs wishing to lease the building.
Included in his belongings, said Taylor, are personal Olympics memorabilia including tracksuits and his participation medal for the London
Olympic Games
in 2012, where he coached his daughter
Katie
to Ireland's first women's Olympic boxing gold medal.
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Katie Taylor's once home boxing gym in Bray is now lying sad and lonesome
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The building, on
Bray
seafront beside the harbour, has been closed since a fatal attack on June 5th, 2018, when a gunman entered the club during an early morning exercise class and opened fire.
'In 2018, a tragic criminal act occurred at the club, and I want to acknowledge the tragic loss of Bobby Messett,' said Taylor, who was also seriously injured in the attack.
'While I was recovering in hospital, Wicklow County Council changed the locks on the gym without notice and we were never given access again.'
Victims of the shooting included Messett, who was killed, Taylor, and Ian Britton, who was shot in the leg.
Gerard Cervi was found guilty of the murder by a unanimous verdict in 2023. The 36-year-old was sentenced to life in prison. No definitive motive was ever established for the murder of the 50-year-old father of three.
Pete Taylor leaving the Central Criminal Court in 2021 after he gave evidence in the trial of Gerard Cervi for the murder of Bobby Messett at Bray Boxing Club in June 2018. Photograph: Collins Courts
Since the incident, the doors of the boxing club have remained closed.
'What happened to this club and what continues to happen is more than a local dispute. It is a national disgrace,' said Taylor.
'A public-funded facility, awarded for Olympic achievement, has been taken from the very people who built it.
'Our contribution has been erased, our property seized and our questions ignored.'
In an email, WCC declined to comment on the status of the boxing club, or whether boxing equipment has been removed from the premises and placed in a lock-up, as Taylor alleges.
'The building is in the ownership and control of Wicklow County Council and is currently unoccupied. Wicklow County Council District is inviting expressions of interest from any sports clubs who wish to lease the above facility for sporting purposes only,' WCC said in a statement.
Bray Boxing Club was officially opened on January 28th, 2014, by the then minister of state for sport Michael Ring, and was grant-assisted by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and Bray Town Council.
The club was upgraded following controversy after Katie's gold medal win in London, when it became common knowledge that the club had no toilet facilities for women, who were facilitated in the nearby Harbour Bar.
Bray Boxing Club, Bray, Co Wicklow. Photograph Nick Bradshaw/The Irish Times
Work got under way at the club in the summer of 2013, with a second storey and extensions added. Bray Town Council secured €190,000 in funding from the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport to fund the project, and invested €100,000 from its own resources.
'Expressions of interest will only be accepted from fully constituted, not-for-profit sports clubs playing sports that are recognised by the Irish Sports Council, and which are located in the Bray Municipal District area,' said the WCC's statement.
'Expression of interest along with further supporting documentation must be submitted to Bray Municipal District Offices, Civic Offices, Main Street, Bray, Co Wicklow, by 4pm on Friday 18th July, 2025.'
Depending on the outcome of the expressions of interest, it is possible that the gym that once housed Katie Taylor may no longer be a boxing club.
Now based in the US, she is a five-time amateur world champion, six-time European champion and, since turning professional after the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, a world champion at two different weights. She has lived in Connecticut since turning professional.
She fights Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden on Friday night, topping an all-female bill at the famous New York venue.
Adam Nolan, another Bray Boxing Club member who competed in the London 2012 games, was also coached by Pete Taylor.
'This is not about blame,' said Taylor. 'It is about truth and respect for what was built – not just for medals but the lives it changed.'