Breaking: Ian Flanagan to depart as Munster Rugby CEO
Munster chief executive Ian Flanagan before the United Rugby Championship match between Connacht and DHL Stormers at Dexcom Stadium in Galway. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Munster Rugby are set to part company with chief executive Ian Flanagan, the province announced on Thursday.
Flanagan has informed the Munster Rugby Board he will step down from the role he has held since October 2019 at the end of this month.
“Munster Rugby and the IRFU today confirm that Ian Flanagan has informed the board of Munster Rugby of his decision to step down from his position as CEO at the end of October,” a statement from Munster began.
“Munster Rugby Chair Ger Malone said: "Ian has served Munster Rugby with dedication and commitment during his time as CEO. He played a central role in the development and delivery of the €7.3 million Centre of Excellence in Cork, which represents an important long-term investment in player development and the wider game across the province. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Ian for his contribution to Munster Rugby and wish him every success for the future.”
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“Ian Flanagan said: "Leading my home province has been a huge privilege. I would like to thank the many people I have worked alongside during my time with Munster Rugby, including our volunteers, staff, sponsors, coaches and players. I would also like to thank our supporters for their unwavering commitment to Munster Rugby over many years. I wish the province every success in the future."
“An Interim CEO will be announced in the coming weeks and a recruitment process for a permanent successor will be undertaken in due course.”
While the outgoing CEO, who succeeded the late Garrett Fitzgerald in the role in October 2019, has tendered his resignation, the decision coincides with the expected delivery by the end of September of an Independent Governance and Organisational Review commissioned by the Munster Rugby Board.
That review, led by Dr Martin Kelleher and undertaken by The Governance Company, began its work in May following Munster’s controversial appointment, subsequently cancelled by mutual consent, of Roger Randle as the attack coach for the current season.
The process by which the New Zealander was hired led to the resignations of three members, ex-players Billy Holland, Killian Keane and Mick O’Driscoll, from Munster’s Professional Games Committee while the major public backlash which arose from the airing of an historic 1997 rape allegation against the then-Hurricanes wing led to the departures of a number of members of Munster’s voluntary Commercial Advisory Group.
Speaking exclusively to the Irish Examiner in May, Flanagan apologised to supporters for the mistakes made in the province’s attempt to appoint Randle as an assistant coach.
In that same interview, the CEO also took full responsibility for the failed processes which led Munster Rugby to commission the Independent Governance and Organisational Review.
Flanagan told the Irish Examiner one of his main tasks was to repair reputational damage and regain the trust of Munster supporters.
“I understand that. I accept it. I acknowledge it,” he said. “And I wouldn't necessarily say it's just supporters. We have a lot of stakeholders and I know there's disappointment out there from a lot of people.
“I know there is upset out there from a lot of people and this is a significant motivation for commissioning the independent review that we want to assure people.
“Firstly, I want to apologise to those people for how it did unfold and hold our hands up and say, we want to learn from this. We do want to re-establish trust… and we want to reassure everyone that we are going to learn from this and we are going to strengthen our processes and our governance so that it doesn't happen again.”
The Randle controversy surfaced at the same time as Flanagan asked for voluntary redundancies within the Munster Rugby organisation owing to increasing economic pressures. That process was confined to staff members outside the elite professional rugby staff but head coach Clayton McMillan publicly sought assurances at the time that everyone within Munster Rugby was “heading in the same direction.
Flanagan’s tenure has not been accompanied by smooth sailing for Munster Rugby. Johann van Graan, the head coach in situ when the former Leicester City commercial director was appointed, turned down a contract renewal in 2021 to join Bath in the English Premiership for 2022-23.
Though van Graan’s successor, forwards coach Graham Rowntree, delivered the province’s first trophy in 13 years with the URC title in 2023, he parted company with Munster in October 2024, leaving then Head of Rugby Operations Ian Costello as interim head coach for the rest of the 24-25 campaign.
New Zealander McMillan was appointed ahead of 25-26.
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