Ireland's first Olympic boxing medallist John McNally dies

John McNally, the first Irish boxer to win an Olympic medal, has died aged 89 in Belfast.

McNally won bantamweight silver at the Helsinki games in 1952.

The west Belfast fighter was convinced he'd taken home gold but was edged out in a controversial split decision by home-town competitor Pentti Hamalainen.

Despite winning the national title earlier that year, the then 19-year-old McNally was forced to win a box-off to secure his place on the team due to doubts over his experience.

At the Olympics proper, McNally was the unanimous victor over Alejandro Ortuosto in his opening bout before upsetting highly fancied Italian Vincenzo Dall'Osso in the quarter-finals to guarantee at least a bronze.

In the semi, McNally knocked his Korean opponent Joon-Ho Kang to the canvas in the second round, essentially securing himself the win and a shot at a gold medal.

The final was a sore point for a long time afterwards, the Finn Hamalainen being awarded the victory in front of a highly partisan home crowd, despite being cautioned eight times during the fight for hitting with the inside of his glove and butting his head on McNally's eye.

The British judge gave the fight to McNally but the American and Austrian judges gave it to the home fighter, to the dismay of the tearful Irish boxer.

McNally said: 'It was the last day of the Games and the host nation had not yet won a gold medal, so there was a lot of weight on the Finn's shoulders to deliver. I was devastated and in floods of tears because I was convinced that I had won the gold medal."

While still cursing the verdict for a long time, he grew philosophical later on: "I just thank God that I had the chance to go there and represent my country," he told Barry Flynn, author of 'Legends of Irish