RSA is to end its seven year association with Irish cricket at the end of 2014.
The announcement was made at the Annual General Meeting of Cricket Ireland over the weekend.
RSA have been the sports principal supporter and were instrumental in helping the sport to build itself to its present state of readiness to take on the best nations in the world.
“I’d like to thank RSA for their terrific support over the last seven years,” said Cricket Ireland Chief Executive Warren Deutrom.
“Their involvement was a primary factor in helping us finance our player contract structure which has been so successful and has directly impacted upon the growth of cricket in Ireland.”
“Equally, RSA’s early notification of their intentions has given us the maximum time to seek a replacement shirt sponsor in a year in which we are playing in the World Cup, hosting England and hosting the ICC World T20 qualifier.”
Funding
RSA’s Irish CEO Philip Smith resigned last year after issues arose with reserve funding levels that had an impact on the company’s overall share price on the London Stock Exchange.
Cricket Ireland also announced a financial profit for the year of €117,300 following a successful season both on and off the field, with highlights including winning the three main Associate tournaments, and successfully hosting sell-out fixtures against both Pakistan and England.
Next week they will host World T20 Champions Sri Lanka in two one day internationals at Clontarf. Those matches are approaching sell out status and will be streamed live online by AerTV.
Later today, the governing body is also expected to announce new sponsors of the Inter Provincial Championship which was introduced last year.