Local World Karate Champion David Brashaw was delighted to hear that the Sports Council for Northern Ireland have agreed to proceed with his idea to make a DVD of Northern Ireland's sporting world champions. 

On Monday 22 August, John Flack and Ruth Gorman from JF Sports visited Bangor for one of many interviews needed to complete their task.  They were welcomed by the mayor of North Down, Councillor Roberta Dunlop.

On asked about the creation David advised "Most people in Northern Ireland don't know who our world beaters are. Names which spring to my mind would be Janet Grey (Water Skiing), Billy Murray (Kick Boxing). However I am sure there are many others.

I hope that this DVD will be the trigger to raising the profile of Northern Ireland 's sports.  In many other countries, such as England , republic of Ireland and Scotland , world beaters are headline news. 

It is really time we gave our stars the same acclaim.  This will in turn inspire more young people to get involved in sports.  This is especially important now that London has won the hosting of the 2102 Olympics.  We need to show the sporting world that Northern Ireland is a great place for training camps and pre-Olympic preparation."

The DVD will be a tool for highlighting a number of successes in a range of different sports by Northern Ireland athletes and is likely to give a very personal insight into how much training and dedication they have had to commit to reach the pinnacle of their sport.  It is hoped that it will be distributed to all of the Sports Council's key stakeholders and used for events and presentations.