Ex-Ireland international charged with stealing over €500,000

Former Ireland midfielder Brendan Mullin has appeared in a court in Dublin accused of stealing over €500,000 from the Bank of Ireland. The soon-to-be 58-year-old earned 55 Ireland caps in his eleven-year international career, playing at three World Cups and touring Australia in 1989 with the British and Irish Lions. 

According to a court report published on www.rte.ie, the ex-Blackrock and Leinster player was arrested and brought before the Dublin District Court on Tuesday morning following an investigation by the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau.

"He is charged with nine counts of theft under the theft and fraud offences act... accused of stealing €573,000 from Bank of Ireland between 2011 and 2013. The 57-year-old former managing director of Bank of Ireland private banking is also accused of deceiving two people, Nicola Johnson and Paul Gallagher, to sign a payment instruction to make a gain for himself or causing a loss to another.

"Mullin is also charged with five counts of false accounting. Detective Garda Sean O'Riordan of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution. He told the court that Mullin was arrested at 9.08am this morning [Tuesday] on Chancery Street in Dublin 7 and when he was charged with the offences at the Bridewell Garda Station, he made no comment.

"The detective told the court the DPP had directed trial on indictment and there was no police objection to bail. Mullin was released on bail of his own bond of €10,000 and agreed to surrender his passport within 48 hours. He is due back in court on November 11 for service of the book of evidence."

Ex-Ireland back Mullin worked in the financial services industry during his rugby career and in the decades since then. He featured in a RugbyPass Where Are They Now piece last year on the 1995 Ireland team that played at the World Cup in South Africa, the last Ireland team to take the field before the sport turned professional in the aftermath of that tournament.  

The snippet read: "Durban marked the end of the road for Mullin’s international career, the defeat to France being the last of his 57-cap career which had begun with a November 1984 defeat to Australia... he hasn’t been immune to professional rugby. He acted as chairman of London Irish Holdings during the 2000s, while his son Gavin – another midfielder – is currently part of the Leinster set-up under Leo Cullen."