Paulstown boxer Darren O Neill is in Assisi in Italy this week as part of a training camp ahead of the European Olympic qualifiers in Samsun, Turkey which gets underway on April 9th.
He is part of a 9 strong male and female squad made up of Ceire Smith, Katie Taylor, Christina Desmond, Brendan Irvine, David Oliver Joyce, Dean Walsh, Michael O’Reilly and Dean Gardiner.
The Irish team are training with the host nation, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria and Finland in Italy.
Paddy Barnes, Michael Conlan and Joe Ward, who have already qualified for Rio 2016, are also in training camp in Assisi.
The Rio trio return home on April 7 and the squad for the Olympic qualifiers travel straight to Samsun. Boxing begins on April 9.
The top two females in the three Olympic weight classes – flyweight, lightweight and middleweight – for women qualify for Rio 2016 in Samsun.
The top three males in the ten weight classes for men qualify.
Irish squad
Female
51kg Ceire Smith (Cavan)
60kg Katie Taylor (Bray)
71kg Christina Desmond (Fr Horgans)
Male
52kg Brendan Irvine (St Pauls)
60kg David Oliver Joyce (AIBA Pro Boxing)
64kg Dean Walsh (St Joesphs/St Ibars)
75kg Michael O’Reilly (Portlaoise)
91kg Darren O’Neill (Paulstown)
91+kg Dean Gardiner (Clonmel)
