Brian Toomey, Chief instructor of Fermoy Karate Club, has recently been appointed International Japan Karate Association (IJKA) Continental Chief for Europe.
Mr Toomey was appointed to the prominent international position on Sunday last, October 8 at an international seminar held in Blackpool in England.
Speaking with The Avondhu this week, Mr Toomey said that it is a ‘great honour’ to be appointed to the role, one which he was unanimously voted for.
“It’s a huge honour to be appointed the role, being the top person in Europe. The Japanese Master was there and he asked all the European country Chief Instructors to nominate somebody, so I was nominated unanimously by all the European Chief Instructors.
“I was very happy that they all were behind me in getting nominated for the position. I got support from the president in the roll as well,” Mr Toomey said.
Having been a prominent presence in the Karate scene for around 50 years now, Mr Toomey is well recognised within the sport and taking on a role of such importance, which is familiar to the local man, who is Chief Instructor for IJKA Ireland and has also held the position of secretary general for the World organisation.
According to Mr Toomey, the role of IJKA Continental Chief for Europe will involve a lot of travel and promotion of the sport.
“There’s kind of two different roles, one would be promoting IJKA Karate and the other will be building up the organisation in Europe and getting more countries to join us,” he said.
In the position, Mr Toomey will also be involved in the planning of events, one of the first of which he hopes will be a European or World Championship event in Ireland next year.
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