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Irish Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Times
Dr John O'Driscoll elected new president of the IRFU
Dr John O'Driscoll has been elected as the new president of the Irish Rugby Football Union . O'Driscoll is a former Ireland and British & Irish Lions flanker who represented his country 26 times and made 19 appearances, including six Tests, for the Lions across two tours. He was first capped for Ireland in 1978 and toured South Africa in 1980 with the Lions and New Zealand three years later. He helped Ireland win a first Triple Crown since 1949 when he played a central role in the 1982 Five Nations competition. John played for Stonyhurst School in Lancashire before going on to play club rugby Liverpool St Helens and Manchester. At provincial level he represented Connacht for 13 seasons. He captained London Irish from 1979-1981 and led them to the John Player Cup Final in 1980. He was elected as Irish Sportsman of the Year in 1980. READ MORE O'Driscoll was a Lions selector in 2001. He has held various administrative roles within the IRFU including as representative to World Rugby and Rugby Europe from 2016 to 2025. 'It is a great honour to be elected as the 136th President of the IRFU,' O'Driscoll said. 'Irish Rugby has given so much to me since an early age – first as a supporter, then through a wonderful playing career with London Irish, Connacht and Ireland. In more recent years, I have been privileged to contribute to the administration of the game alongside people utterly dedicated to its success at every level.'
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Dr John O'Driscoll appointed IRFU president
The Irish Rugby Football Union held its annual council meeting on Friday, where Dr John O'Driscoll was elected the 136th president of the union. A former British & Irish Lions flanker who represented his country 26 times and made 19 appearances for the Lions across two tours, he was first capped for Ireland in 1978. Dr O'Driscoll helped Ireland win a first Triple Crown since 1949 when he played a central role in the 1982 Five Nations competition. He played for Stonyhurst School in Lancashire before going on to represent Liverpool St Helens, Manchester, Connacht and London Irish. His feats on the field of play saw him elected as Irish Sportsman of the Year in 1980. After hanging up his boots, Dr O'Driscoll went on to hold coaching, selector and administrative roles. Speaking after his election to his latest post, Dr O'Driscoll said: "It is a great honour to be elected as the 136th president of the IRFU. Irish rugby has given so much to me since an early age, first as a supporter, then through a wonderful playing career with London Irish, Connacht and Ireland. In more recent years, I have been privileged to contribute to the administration of the game alongside people utterly dedicated to its success at every level. "I look forward to visiting clubs across the country and meeting the volunteers who are the lifeblood of the sport. Their passion, commitment and depth of involvement are vital to Ireland."
Times
01-07-2025
- Sport
- Times
Meet the former London Irish coach trying to take down the Lions
T here are times after a couple of cans of Castlemaine XXXX when Jonathan Fisher and Les Kiss look back on their last days of London Irish and wonder, 'What if?' Could the team they were growing in west London would have challenged Northampton Saints and Bath for the Gallagher Premiership title over the past two seasons? The collapse of the club in June 2023 left senior players and staff scattered far and wide. Benhard Janse van Rensburg was snapped up by Bristol Bears, Saracens pounced to sign Juan Martín González and Lucio Cinti, Northampton Saints bagged Tom Pearson and Henry Arundell moved to Racing 92 in Paris. There was also a generation of players still on academy contracts who were lost to London Irish, including Chandler Cunningham-South and two of the best young props in England, Afolabi Fasogbon and Tarek Haffar.
Irish Times
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
‘Are you staying or going?': The question all Irish emigrants eventually face
Ireland's long-standing history of emigration is reflected in a piece by Mark Paul , London Correspondent, in which he says, 'Over the decades the area had been a magnet for Irish immigrants, but the community aged. Younger London Irish now favour Hackney or Clapham. Meanwhile, Archway's green army went grey.' While Mark's piece centres around Martin Fallon, an 'old boy from Ireland' who died in May, he speaks to locals in the traditional London-Irish community about how things have evolved. It's interesting to consider the changing face of the Irish community in London, especially since – for the most part – the whys of leaving their homeland are generally the same after all this time. For Peter Flanagan, he says that when he first moved to the UK, he expected to stay about six months. Now, after six years, however, he's wondering will he ever leave. Having bought his first home in the English capital, though, he feels that's probably an indication – and not a conscious decision – that he's here for good. Despite this, Flanagan says: 'My real fear is staying in the UK so long that I go full Pierce Brosnan. So far removed from my place of origin that I become an awkward facsimile of myself. Half-remembered visions of my childhood blurring with drunken fever dreams. Perched on a barstool in a silk cravat, waxing lyrical about the old country to anyone who will listen. 'I do miss Éire,' I'd slur. 'My father built our family home from clay and sticks on the banks of the river Liffey. I often wonder if it's still standing.'' Something students considering a move to the US should bear in mind are new visa requirements introduced this week. In a statement on Monday, the US embassy in Dublin said the US State Department is 'committed to protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process'. READ MORE The embassy said visa applicants will be required to list all social media usernames or handles for every platform they have used from the last five years on their visa application form so these accounts can be vetted. Taoiseach Micheál Martin condemned the new requirements as 'excessive' and said that they will cause 'fear and anxiety' among young people. Read more about the changes here . Columnist Laura Kennedy says there is always one question she is asked as an emigrant in Australia: 'Are you staying or going?' And while it may be a nudge from loved ones to get you home, it eventually becomes a real question in need of a serious answer. This month, she also looked at what Irish people are good at – digesting dairy, drinking and, of course, emigration. Our shortcoming? Pollen. And, by God, her allergies are not holding back in the hay fever capital of Canberra. As autumn hits down under, it's not letting up either. She writes: 'It does make me miss Limerick a bit, though, and its chaste plant-life that has the decency to die – or to play dead – once autumn shuffles in.' Adrian O'Sullivan, from Cork, has no plans to leave Berlin, which he first visited in 1988 as an 18-year-old. Speaking to Frank Dillon, he says he's noticed subtle changes over the years. 'When I came here first, what I often remarked upon was that, for Germans, everything is absolutely forbidden unless it is allowed whereas, for the Irish, everything is allowed unless it is absolutely forbidden. Sometimes Irish people have come here thinking they can do things the same was as they can in Cahersiveen, but that doesn't work.' Wicklow woman Orla McLaughlin lives in Venice and says she felt connected to the city from early on. She misses friends and family in Ireland, however, and returns once or twice a year, 'though it was easier when the children were younger. You inevitably miss out on some milestones and sharing some of your own too.' Finally, if, when you ask yourself should you stay or go, you decide a return to Ireland is on the cards, you may want to check out our guide on how to go about buying property in Ireland from abroad. Thanks for reading.
BBC News
20-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Ex-Tigers back row Rogerson joins Worcester
Former London Irish and Leicester Tigers forward Matt Rogerson has become the latest player to join Championship side Worcester 31-year-old back-rower is the second signing in 24 hours and fourth new arrival this moves to Sixways after two seasons with the Tigers, helping the East Midlands side reach the Premiership final in 2024-25, only to lose to treble-winning made 28 appearances for Leicester in total having joined from London Irish, where he captained the club in the top flight before financial problems led to the Exiles going into administration two years had suffered the same fate nearly a year earlier and a third Premiership club - Wasps - also went out of Irish, who hope to return to rugby next year, Worcester are part of the new-look 14-team Championship that gets underway next season. Head coach Matt Everard said Rogerson will bring "outstanding experience and leadership" and will "drive the highest standards" and set a "brilliant example to everyone at Warriors". Everard has helped oversee a huge recruitment drive to get the club ready for their comeback with former Gloucester and Northampton Saints wing Tom Seabrook signed on full-back Louis Brown, ex-England back Billy Twelvetrees, Uruguay back Juan Gonzalez, Leicester Tigers prop Tim Hoyt and Exeter Chiefs prop Billy Keast have former Wales scrum-half Lloyd Williams, Saracens prop Fraser Balmain and Dragons fly-half Will Reed have also signed up at Sixways.
