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Brendan John Mullin (born Jerusalem, 31 October 1963) is a former Ireland international rugby union football player. He played as a centre and has been described as "one of the last great Irish players of rugby’s amateur era". After retirement from rugby, Mullin worked for Powerscourt Investments. He subsequently joined Bank of Ireland. He was arrested in 2021 and, after a lengthy investigation, brought to court in October 2024 to face charges relating to the theft of more than €570,000 from the bank. He was found guilty in November 2024 and jailed for three years.

Early life

Mullin spent his early life in Jerusalem, Israel and attended secondary school in Blackrock College, Dublin. A Leinster and Ireland schoolboy international, Mullin studied law at Trinity College Dublin and also reportedly won "an Oxford 'Blue'".

Mullin was also a noted hurdler, winning the All-Ireland Schools senior boys’ hurdles in 1981 and 1982 and with a personal best of 14.41 seconds for the 110m hurdles.

Rugby career

Mullin had 55 caps for Ireland, scoring 17 tries and 1 conversion, 72 points in aggregate. His debut was at the 16–9 loss to Australia, on 10 November 1984, in Dublin, and his final cap was at the 36–12 loss against France, on 10 June 1995, at the 1995 Rugby World Cup, in Durban, South Africa. He was for many years Ireland's record try-scorer.

Mullin played at three Rugby World Cup finals, in 1987, 1991 and 1995. He played in nine Five Nations championships: 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1995.

He toured Australia in 1989 with the British and Irish Lions and at the time played club rugby for Blackrock College RFC. Mullin also played three times for the Barbarians in the 1980s.

Criminal activity

Mullin was arrested in Dublin on 21 September 2021, and brought before the Dublin District Court on foot of an investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau. He was charged with nine counts of theft under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act, accusing him of stealing €578,000 from Bank of Ireland between 2011 and 2013. Mullin, who had been a managing director of Bank of Ireland private banking, was also accused of deceiving two people to sign a payment instruction to make a gain for himself or causing a loss to another, and with five counts of false accounting. He made no comment when informed of the charges and was released on bail after agreeing to surrender his passport.

The trial, which began on 15 October 2024, took three weeks and ended in early November 2024. Mullin was found guilty of 12 of the 14 charges that were presented, including several of counts of stealing more than €570,000 between 2011 and 2013, and a number of charges relating to false accounting practices. The judge directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty on a further count of deception. He was sentenced on 25 November 2024 to three years in prison.

References

1. ^ "Brendan John Mullin". ESPN scrum. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
2. ^ O'Sullivan, John (5 November 2024). "Brendan Mullin one of the last great Irish players of rugby's amateur era". Irish Times. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
3. "Centre of a different universe". The Irish Times.
4. "Brendan Mullin had 'no option' but to resign amid internal inquiry, court hears". The Irish Times.
5. ^ Hayes, Isabel; Dodd, Eimear (5 November 2024). "Ex-rugby international Brendan Mullin found guilty of stealing hundreds of thousands of euro from bank". Irish Times. Retrieved 5 November 2024.
6. ^ "Ex-rugby player jailed over stealing €570k from bank". BBC News. 25 November 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
7. Brennan, Joe; Watterson, Johnny (21 September 2021). "Triple Crown winner moved seamlessly from rugby to finance". The Irish Times.
8. "List of All Time Best Performances, Men, Ireland - Athletics Ireland" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2008.
9. O'Riordan, Ian (2 May 2015). "Schools make for grounds of a great celebration". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
10. Thornley, Gerry (8 March 2003). "Centre of a different universe". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
11. "Archive - Barbarian FC". www.barbarianfc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
12. "Ex-rugby international charged over stealing €578,000 from Bank of Ireland". RTÉ News. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
13. "Former Irish rugby international Brendan Mullin accused of stealing €578,000". BBC News. 21 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
14. O'Brien, Fergal (15 October 2024). "Former rugby international on trial over stealing from BOI". RTÉ News. Retrieved 16 October 2024.

External links

• Brendan Mullin at ESPNscrum

• 1963 births
• Living people
• Irish rugby union players
• Ireland international rugby union players
• Ireland national rugby union team captains
• British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland
• Leinster Rugby players
• London Irish players
• Blackrock College RFC players
• Rugby union centres
• Sportspeople from Jerusalem
• People educated at Blackrock College
• Irish expatriates in Israel
• Alumni of the University of Oxford
• Alumni of Trinity College Dublin
• Dublin University Football Club players
• Irish expatriate rugby union players in England
• Rugby union players from County Dublin
• Oxford University RFC players
• Bank of Ireland people
• 1987 Rugby World Cup players
• 1991 Rugby World Cup players
• 1995 Rugby World Cup players