DUNDALK – Munster-born Bryan O’Donnell has been formally appointed as the President of Cricket Ireland for the 2026-27 term – a role which his father held 63 years ago.
The Chair of Cricket Ireland, Brian MacNeice, opened the recent Cricket Ireland AGM with several administrative matters, including the adoption of the accounts and annual report. Attendees were then advised of two changes to the Board:
- Siobhan McBennett (Cricket Leinster representative) has finished her term and will be replaced by Meena Baskarasubramanian; and
- David Richardson (Independent Director) has stepped down for personal reasons (this vacancy will be advertised shortly).
The meeting then saw the formal appointment of the new President, Bryan O’Donnell. As part of the handover, outgoing PresidentDonna Armstrong was thanked for her service and she spoke of a great year and great friendships made.
Mr O’Donnell was an all-round sportsperson from an early age, whose interests included competitive swimming, athletics, rugby, fishing and cricket. The latter of these became possibly his true sporting passion and played club cricket with numerous clubs, but possibly most significantly for Cork County Cricket Club, where he was captain of the Club during its Centenary Year in 1974. He played Guinness Cup from 1970 to 1988 and represented his province from the age of 17. He was also a founding member of Cork Harlequins Cricket Club. After retiring from playing cricket, Mr O’Donnell went into swimming coaching and other voluntary administrative roles – and he served as Treasurer of the Munster Cricket Union from 2012 to 2021.
Addressing the attendees of the AGM, Bryan O’Donnell said:
“My thanks to those who have placed their trust in me to represent the Office. I’m very proud to be following in my father’s footsteps and honoured to become President of Cricket Ireland. To Donna [Armstrong], I hope you thoroughly enjoyed your year as President and have plenty of tips for me – and I wish you the happiest time ahead for your next endeavours.
“While three kids and eight grandchildren usually keep us busy, unfortunately granddad is going to be around a little less over the next year.”
Chair, Brian MacNeice, presented an overview of highlights of 2025, including new winners of the All-Ireland competitions, notable on field achievements including the qualification of Men’s & Women’s Senior and Under-Age teams for upcoming ICC World Cup events, the highly successful Cricket Connects camp staged in Stormont, and significant changes off the field with the appointment of our new CEO and an ongoing programme of reform being led by the new CEO with support from the Board.
New CEO, Sarah Keane, then addressed the meeting with a broad view of the operational and financial challenges faced, as well as the opportunities that are being explored to create a more financially-sustainable business model for the organiation. She also flagged an internal restructure was in progress and will be ongoing with the aim to ensure Cricket Ireland has a fit-for-purpose operating model to meet future challenges.
She also highlighted a few priority areas for the sport, notably the revamp of our talent pathway and high performance strategy. She committed to rebalancing priorities to address this key areas.
Following formalities, attendees were then provided the opportunity to ask questions of the Chair, CEO and CFO of Cricket Ireland, who were all in attendance. Questions covered everything from relationships between the different areas of the Cricket family, some specifics on the financials, the need for enhanced communication, progress and plans re facilities investment around the country and the progress of the National Performance Centre & Stadium build, the various membership programmes available, updates on Ireland’s potential inclusion in the World Test Championships from 2027, and the status of the new European T20 Premier League tournament due to commence in August 2026.
The annual report can be found here.
