Paudie Sheehan Promoted To IRFU National Panel
9th August 2019 By The Editor
Sheehan will be eligible for selection to referee in the All-Ireland League and representative fixtures in the coming season.
Munster’s Paudie Sheehan has been promoted to the IRFU National Panel for the 2019/20 season along with six other referees from across the provinces.
The announcement was made at the IRFU National Referee Camp last month.
The officials were promoted on the basis of their performance in the Inter Provincial Assessment System (IPAS), which sees them referee a series of six games outside of their own province.
Ireland Men’s National Team Coach Joe Schmidt presented the newly promoted referees with their jerseys at Camp in Johnstown Estate in Co. Meath. They will be eligible for selection to referee in the All-Ireland League and representative fixtures in the coming season.
“They are now in the top 10% of referees in the country so it’s a big achievement for them and they’ll be wearing the IRFU crest as part of our national competition,” said Irish Rugby’s National Referee Manager David Wilkinson.
“We’re very proud of our refereeing structures. We’ve got three referee associations and one referee society across the four provinces. Without them and the help and support poured into grassroots rugby, we wouldn’t have a platform to get over 50 referees to this level at National Camp.”
The new National Panel referees are Keane Davison, John Flynn, Rob McGreer, Andrew Mitchell, Paul O’Connor, Pádraic Reidy and Sheehan.
Sheehan is a Cork City native with almost 10 years of service playing All-Ireland League rugby with Sunday’s Well. After hanging up his boots, Kieran Barry and Eddie Hogan O’Connell encouraged him to take up refereeing. Five years later, he is looking forward to the challenge of refereeing in the All-Ireland League.
M.A.R. Recruitment Week | Saturday 14 – Sunday 22 September 2019
FREE new member courses
Course 1 | Saturday 14 September: Hibernian Hotel, Mallow (9.30am-3pm)
Course 2 | Monday 16 & Tuesday 17 September: Limerick Institute of Technology (6.30pm-9pm)
Course 3 | Wednesday 18 & Thursday 19 September: Cork Institute of Technology (6.30pm-9pm)
Course 4 | Sunday 22 September: Charleville Park Hotel, Charleville (9.30am-3pm)
The benefits of becoming a referee with the Munster Association of Referees include;
- Keep fit
- Opportunity to give back to the sport
- Best seat in the house
- Active participation
- Opportunities to travel
Book or register your interest by contacting IRFU Referee Development Manager (Munster) Chris Harrington – email chris.harrington@irfu.ie or mobile (087) 2750586
