A six person squad, under coaches Derek Desmond and Paul Brennan, represented Ireland at the 2009 44th European Karate Championships in Croatia recently. The three day competition was held in the spectacular 5000 seater Dom Sportova Stadium in Zagreb and attracted competitors from 18 countries.

First out for Ireland were brothers Gareth Flynn and Ronan Flynn. The pair competed in the +84kg and -84kg division losing out by narrow margins to Swiss and German opponents. In the -75kg category Vincent O'Hora scored a first round victory against his Czech opponent to progress to round two where he squared off to Alton Browne, the current British champion and a former "10K Karate Clash" winner. In an entertaining and close fought match the Irishman was disappointed to lose out on a final score of 0-2. "It was a very credible performance by Vincent, especially as this was his first European Championships", Desmond added.

First of the female athletes on the mat was Sorcha McCorry, who competing at -68kg took on a German opponent in a bout which was drawn at the final bell and went to extended time. "At the very end of the contest, with the fight still tied, the judges awarded the win to the German. However, we can be confident that Sorcha will be back again because at just 20 years old she has youth on her side", Desmond added.

Day two saw the two remaining female squad members compete. Ruth Smyth, at -55kg, drew against her Swiss opponent after which the contest was extended only for her to exit 0-3. Emily Geraghty fought well to win her first round tilt beating the Danish representative by 3-2. Later, in round two she faced a strong Bosnian fighter (who eventually took bronze) only to be defeated 5-0. In the ladies team competition the Irish team lost 0-2 to the German selection, the eventual bronze medalists.

"The fact that we have a team to compete at this level bodes well for the future", Desmond said. Plans are now in train to select cadets, juniors and under 21's for the 2009 WKF World Karate Championships in Morocco in November.