Stephen McNamara is moving on from his position as Director of Communications at the Irish Rugby Football Union.

He came into the role from a similar position at Ryanair back in 2012 and has been in situ for over a decade that has included bidding to host a Men’s Rugby World Cup, hosting a Women’s Rugby World Cup, winning Grand Slams and overseeing the response to hundreds of positive, and negative, stories where the media descended on the sport.

There have been face time calls with US Presidents, an appointment in 2020 to the Future of Media Commission, and, together with a strong team, an overseeing of outreach across digital and social media channels that are consistently at or near the top of our monthly Sport for Business / Olytico Irish Sport on Social Media Report.

Thrown into the mix was having to manage the challenge of Covid, of keeping the game and interest in it afloat during the darkest of days and empty stadia.

He completed an MBA at the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School in 2019 and will now be taking his skills in a new direction.

We wish him the very best of luck wherever the next chapter of his career takes him.

Peter Breen will take up the Head of Communications role at the IRFU on an interim basis from this week.