15/06/2016

Archived item. This item is published here for historical reasons. The information below may be out of date.

Four continents represented at World Karate Championship in South Dublin

Players, officials and spectators from Europe, North America, South America and Asia are expected to descend on South Dublin County on the 16th June for the WUKF World Karate Championship. The four day Martial Arts event takes place in the Citywest Convention Centre and is the first world karate open tournament to encompass four continents organised by AMA Ireland.

For the second year running the amateur martial arts association AMA Ireland were approved an offer of assistance from South Dublin County Council under the Community Tourism Diaspora Initiative. The project, run in association with Fáilte Ireland and IPB Insurance, is aimed at providing support to community based events that involve overseas visitors in order to carry through the legacy of The Gathering in 2013 and beyond. It is also aimed at fostering the growth of strong county Diaspora networks on the basis that Diaspora relationships are rooted in ‘people and place’.

“Following the success of our event in 2015 and the fund support received from the Diaspora Initiative our event has now grown from 450 European visitors to an expected 2,000 visitors from across four continents. As Martial Arts is a minority sport in Ireland, sponsorship is a struggle. The funding from the Diaspora Initiative has enabled us to properly plan, promote and carry out an even bigger event which will be a true Showpiece for Dublin in 2016” enthuses Sean O’Brien, president of AMA Ireland and Chief Instructor of WADO Martial Arts Ireland.

Since its launch in 2014, seven community based events have been supported locally bringing over 2,000 overseas visitors to South Dublin County. This year nine organisations have been evaluated and approved for funding with over 4,700 overseas visitors expected.

The WUKF World Karate Championships is just the latest in a string of international martial arts events to be held in South Dublin County. In March the Irish Open International, a martial arts tournament attracting over 3,500 competitors from 40 nations was held in Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre in Saggart whilst the Japan Karate Association European Championships 2016 took place in the National Basketball Arena, Tallaght in April with competitors, delegates and spectators from 34 countries attending.

For further information and tickets for the WUKF World Karate Championship go to www.amaireland.com

Images

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  Image 1 - Fálte Ireland logo
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  Image 2 - ipb logo
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  Image 3 -SDCC logo