About

IFRU is the governing body that manages rugby in the island of Ireland. With rugby being one of Ireland’s most popular sports and with the Irish national rugby team being one of the sport’s most historic and successful sides, Declan McPhillips holds a glamorous and distinguished position in Ireland’s in-house legal market as the IFRU’s head of legal and compliance. McPhillips played a pivotal role in agreements which led to the redevelopment of the country’s national stadium in 2010: the IRFU set up a joint venture with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to co-own the new stadium and reached a ten-year agreement with insurance company Aviva to sponsor the redevelopment in exchange for exclusive naming rights. He has also managed the IRFU’s numerous sponsorship deals with companies such as Aon, PwC, Guinness, Vodafone and Aer Lingus. In 2017 he led on lobbying efforts regarding the resale of tickets in Ireland following a consultation paper issued on the matter by the Competition and Consumer Policy Section in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.