19-05-2025
Noonan turns soccer club into limited company as brother jailed for role in €2.7m drug haul
Former League of Ireland player and Bluebell United manager Andrew Noonan (45) was jailed for 13 and a half years this week
Sean Noonan has taken over Bluebell United and turned it into a for-profit company
The brother of convicted drug dealer Andrew Noonan has turned the Bluebell United club he managed from a non-profit organisation into a for-profit limited company in recent weeks.
Former League of Ireland player and Bluebell United manager Andrew Noonan (45) was jailed for 13 and a half years this week in relation to his high-level role in a €2.769m heroin importation enterprise. At the time the heroin was seized, Andrew Noonan was the manager of Bluebell United.
Andrew Noonan was previously arrested twice by gardai in relation to the shooting of innocent postman Robert Delany in 2008 but released without charge.
Dad-of-two Robert was shot in the head in 2008, leaving him in a permanent vegetative state.
Andrew Noonan was convicted of drug offences
Mr Delany's father Terry led a public protest after Andrew Noonan was appointed manager of Bluebell United in 2011, highlighting how he was a suspect in his son's shooting.
'They wouldn't even correspond or deal with us when Andrew was managing and we were protesting,' Terry said this weekend.
Andrew's jailing on Friday doesn't end the Noonan family's relationship with Bluebell United, a Dublin football club currently based near Clondalkin.
Sean Noonan has taken over Bluebell United and turned it into a for-profit company
News in 90 Seconds - May 19th
In recent weeks Andrew's brother Sean, who was also quizzed by gardai over the shooting of Mr Delany and later released without charge, has taken over Bluebell United and turned it into a for-profit limited company, of which he is a director.
Until his takeover, Bluebell United was a company limited by guarantee (CLG) which is a non-profit company normally used for organisations such as sports clubs and charities which are set up for a specific purpose such as to benefit the community. There are no shareholders in CLGs.
Andrew Noonan in his playing days
According to company documents, Sean Noonan is now the sole shareholder in Bluebell United AFC Ltd and one of two directors.
A spokesperson for the FAI said it was at the discretion of Bluebell United and its former committee members if they decided to turn into a limited company.
'What a club does in terms of company law is its own decision. We don't have any recourse in that area. Their obligations are based upon company law.'
The spokesperson said that the FAI has very little say in the day-to-day running of clubs but did run the FAI Club Mark scheme, which is a three-tiered accreditation award based on best practice in the governance, management and administration of a football club.
The spokesperson said while Bluebell have applied, they have not yet met requirement in relation to best practice.
'They have engaged with the process but they haven't got approval. They haven't been successful with that as it currently stands,' the spokesperson said.
Sean Noonan did not respond to requests for comment this week.
Terry Delany leading a protest at a Bluebell United match
He previously told the Sunday World he did not want to discuss Robert Delany's shooting.
'What's it to do with me? I don't have anything to say.'
He added: 'We were questioned, not arrested. I was just one line of enquiry, no charges were ever brought.'
He attended his brother's sentencing hearing on Friday along with other family members.
Sean and Andrew's father John Noonan, an ex-IRA commander who was involved in the Concerned Parents Against Drugs protests decades ago, was also arrested after Mr Delany's shooting but later released without charge.
The father of two was shot in the head when he looked out the window of his apartment in Tallaght, Dublin, in 2008.
The innocent postman, who had no involvement in criminality, was targeted because of a minor exchange of words outside a pub.
Terry Delany said he feels people should boycott Bluebell United due to the links to the Noonan family.
'I just hope that people look at Bluebell now. They make a lot of money and had a boxing tournament recently with loads at it. They also use the club for social functions. People should have a long hard look at Bluebell now and their relationship with the Noonans.'
Innocent Robert Delany
He said it was particularly ironic that Andrew Noonan was convicted of drugs offence, considering his father's past.
'When you go back on the history of the father and his involvement in Concerned Parents Against Drugs, it's a joke.'
Another former Bluebell United player, Keith Quinn (36), was previously jailed over the same drugs haul as Andrew Noonan after pleading guilty and has since served his sentence.
Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, Noonan continues to protest his innocence over the drugs shipment.
His solicitor Kevin Winters of KRW Law released a statement this weekend saying he will appeal the guilty verdict.
'Our client wants it put on record that he abhors drugs and anything to do with them. Andrew is a well-known sportsman and enjoys a stellar reputation in Irish league soccer both as a former player of note and more latterly as a manager with a series of clubs through out the country.
'He has helped many people with rehabilitation from addiction as well as influencing and touching the lives of many footballers down through the years. Put simply, drugs are anathema to his world of family and sport.'
Noonan was caught after gardai posed as delivery men in a controlled delivery of the drugs to his co-accused Keith Quinn at Rosemount Business Park, Dublin 11, on August 5, 2020.
Quinn contacted Noonan by phone after collecting the drugs before meeting up with him and moving the drugs. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that gardai believe Noonan had a supervisory role in relation to his co-accused Quinn and say Noonan's level in the overall context of the enterprise was 'high'.
Noonan, with an address at Redhills Park, Ellistown, Co. Kildare, has prior convictions for road traffic offences, unauthorised possession of a firearm and possession of an air rifle in suspicious circumstances over 25 years ago.
