Brendan John Mullin (born

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, 31 October 1963) is a former

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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 Bank of Ireland Group plc () is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history. At ...

. 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 Blackrock College () is a voluntary day and boarding Catholic secondary school for boys aged 13–18, in Williamstown, Blackrock, County Dublin, Ireland. It was founded by French missionary Jules Leman in 1860 as a school and later became al ...

, Dublin. A

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

and Ireland schoolboy international, Mullin studied law at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

and also reportedly won "an Oxford '

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

'". Mullin was also a noted

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

, 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

, scoring 17 tries and 1 conversion, 72 points in aggregate. His debut was at the 16–9 loss to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, on 10 November 1984, in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, and his final cap was at the 36–12 loss against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, on 10 June 1995, at the

1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...

, in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

, South Africa. He was for many years Ireland's record try-scorer. Mullin played at three

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

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 The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

and at the time played club rugby for

Blackrock College RFC Blackrock College Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club located in Blackrock, Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The club was founded in 1882 by former pupils of Blackrock College. Their senior team currently plays in 2024–25 All-Irela ...

. Mullin also played three times for the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

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 The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB; formerly Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation/GBFI) – informally known as the ''Fraud Squad'' – is a specialised division of Ireland's national police force, the Garda Síochána, that investig ...

. He was charged with nine counts of theft under the Theft and Fraud Offences Act, accusing him of stealing €578,000 from

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 Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...

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

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mullin, Brendan 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