Profits soar to €1.23m at O’Connell’s company

Jumping higher than Paul O’Connell himself, accumulated profits at the Ireland captain’s company leaped to over €1.23m last year.

In a bumper year for the towering Limerick man, new figures show that accumulated profits at his Nellcon Ltd jumped by €143,627, from €1.091m to €1.23m, in the 12 months to the end of April last. This followed profits at the firm increasing by €115,825 in 2013.

Last Sunday, the Ireland forward led Ireland to a famous victory over England and he now has even more reason to smile, with the cash pile at his firm rising by €155,922, from €1.051m to €1.207m, last year.

O’Connell has benefited from his professional playing career coinciding with a boom in the finances of the IRFU through the growing popularity of rugby.

Between 2001 and 2014, revenues at the IRFU, which controls 80% of the finances of Irish rugby, have more than trebled, from €21.6m to €69.7m.

O’Connell also added to his coffers last year when fulfilling the role of brand ambassador for the electricity company Pinergy.

The figures for Nellcon Ltd show that at the end of April last, the company owed €38,213 to the firm’s directors, Paul and Michael O’Connell.