Council to host reception for Olympic-bound boxer

DERRY City and Strabane District Council will hold a reception for Newtownstewart boxer, Jude Gallagher, who has secured a place at the Paris Olympics.

Cllr Caroline Devine proposed the reception ‘in recognition of what he has achieved’ at a full council meeting.

She said there was ‘so much excitement in Newtownstewart’, after the 22-year-old featherweight’s World Qualification Tournament quarter-final win.

“Jude’s the first Tyrone boxer in 40 years to go to the Olympics,” Cllr Devine said.

“And his coaches are really hopeful he’s going to come home with a medal, so hopefully we will be celebrating again.

“Jude is hard-working and disciplined as a boxer, and he’s also grounded and modest as a young man.”

Cllr Sandra Duffy said, as a member of a boxing family, Jude had been ‘absolutely fantastic to watch grow’.

She said, “The work he has put into boxing, he has been a fantastic young man and ambassador for the sport.

“I wish him all the best. I am absolutely confident he will come home with a medal, and I’m looking forward to Paris and shouting him on.”

Alderman Derek Hussey, from Castlederg, said it was a ‘tremendous achievement for a young man from our neck of the woods’.

“I think we also have to pay tribute to the [Two Castles Boxing] Club, who do tremendous work in Newtownstewart, and Jude’s father John.”

Cllr Jason Barr added that the entire council area had been ‘fantastic in the boxing area for many years’.

He concluded, “As Cllr Duffy rightly said, I have no doubt that Jude will be bringing back an Olympic medal, and we can all celebrate that success.”