Munster base a place for 'kids to fall in love with rugby'

Ian Flanagan confirmed his next priority was to secure a naming rights deal for the €7.3 million project.

Munster Rugby chief executive Ian Flanagan hailed the prospect of a ‘place for kids to fall in love with rugby’ as the sod was turned on the organisation’s €7.3m Cork Centre of Excellence. The centre is in part financed by €2.7m from the Government’s Large Scale Sports Infrastructure Fund. Pic: James Crombie/Inpho

Munster Rugby chief executive Ian Flanagan hailed the prospect of a “place for kids to fall in love with rugby” as the sod was turned on his organisation’s Cork Centre of Excellence and confirmed his next priority was to secure a naming rights deal for the €7.3 million project.

An Tánaiste Micheal Martin, Simon Coveney TD, IRFU president Declan Madden and Lord Mayor of Cork Dan Boyle helped perform an official sod-turning ceremony on the site at the Dolphin RFC end at Virgin Media Park of what will house the region’s first indoor rugby training dome, a state of the art gym and Munster Rugby’s new offices.