President & Board Members
President, 2022/23
Pádraig Moran
Pádraig Moran has had a 40-year association with Corrib RFC, where he first started playing rugby in 1982 when the club was just 12 months old. Over a 26-year playing career he won the Connacht Junior Cup in 1994, played for the Connacht Juniors, and was captain of the team in 1999/00.
As an administrator Pádraig has served as Corrib RFC President on two occasions, in 2004/05 and 2013/14. He also served as Fixtures Secretary for the club for five years and since the late 1990s has served as the club's Branch Delegate.
At Provincial level he has been a member of the Adult Competitions Committee since 2015, a member of the Disciplinary Committee from 2015-2019, and chaired the Age Grade Committee from 2017-2020.
In 2019 he was elected Junior Vice-President of Connacht Rugby, and then spent two years as Senior Vice-President before his election as Connacht Rugby President in June 2022.
Chairperson of the Board
John Power
John is the Founder and CEO of Aerogen, Ireland’s largest indigenous Med-tech company and the world leader in Acute Care aerosol drug delivery.
John was the 2016/17 recipient of the European Entrepreneur of the Year Award and is a highly accomplished Entrepreneur, Engineer and Innovator.
With over 30 year’s executive leadership experience, John has been a Founder/co-Founder, Board member and investor in several technology-based companies in Ireland, UK and USA.
John has also served on several industry committee’s and Boards including the Irish Research Council for Science Engineering and Technology and the Irish Med-tech Association where he has represented Ireland as an industry expert at the EU Competitiveness Council.
As a lifetime sports enthusiast and community activist John is a Director of Moycullen Community Development Association with whom he has been a member for over 20 years. He is a founder committee member of Connemara Greenway Alliance and is the industry representative on the NUIG Sports Committee.
John has been a season ticket holder and business club member of Connacht Rugby for many years and is passionate about helping Connacht navigate the next stage of its progression and development, both on and off the pitch.
Board Member and Chairperson of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee
Niall Dolan
Niall is a member of the Board of Connacht Rugby and also serves as Chairperson of the Finance, Audit and Risk Committee. He is a native of Ballinasloe and during his playing career he played rugby for Ballinasloe, St Marys and Buccaneers RFC. He also represented Connacht at Schools and U20 level.
Niall is a chartered accountant and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and a Masters of Accounting degree from University College Dublin. He is Chief Financial Officer and a Board Director of Applegreen plc. He has been with Applegreen since 2015 having previously held senior financial positions in other large Irish companies.
Board Member and Chairperson of the Professional Rugby Committee
Conor O'Loughlin
Conor hails originally from Athlone and played club rugby with Buccaneers and NUIG before playing professional rugby for Connacht for 8 years, winning 97 provincial caps and 1 Ireland A cap in a career unfortunately cut short by injury.
During that period Conor also represented the Connacht squad on the Board of Rugby Players Ireland and this experience prepared him well for when he transitioned to a new role as a player agent for 3 years following his retirement from the game.
Most recently Conor co-founded and currently leads a venture backed software company called Glofox, which employs over 240 people globally. Conor is the current CEO and chairman of the board which hosts a number of tier 1 global institutional investors as members.
Conor has been a member of Connacht Rugby’s Professional Rugby Committee for the last 9 months.
Board Member and Chairperson of the Club & Community Rugby Committee
Robert Lahiff
Robert is a member of the Board of Connacht Rugby and is the Chairperson of the Club & Community Rugby Committee. He has held a number of appointments with Connacht Rugby in the past including Honorary Secretary of the Connacht Branch and Chairperson of the Rugby Committee. He is a Senior Account Manager for Coca Cola Hellenic Ireland, where he has worked since 1998.
He has been an active member of Gort RFC and held a range of positions on and off the field including Club Chairman, Club Captain, Forwards Coach and 1st Team Manager. He also played with Buccaneers RFC and won an AIL Division 3 title and a Connacht Junior Cup with the club in 1997. He managed the Gort RFC Junior Team that won the Connacht Junior Cup in 2004.
Board Member and Chairperson of the Commercial Committee
John Goode
John is a member of the Board of Connacht Rugby and is Chairperson of the Commercial Committee which has responsibility for overseeing all Commercial and Marketing activity in Connacht Rugby. Prior to his appointment he was a member of the Finance Audit and Risk Committee for a one year period.
John is a Senior Partner in Irelandia Aviation, the investment vehicle of the Ryan family and a leading developer of Low Cost Airlines around the world including Ryanair and Viva Air. John has substantial experience as a board member of a number of private companies including the chairing and participation of several board committees. He has also held a number of executive roles in the airline Viva Air including, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy CEO.
Board Member and Chairperson of the Operations Committee
Eamonn Collins
Eamonn is the Managing Director and Founding Partner of Collins Boyd Engineering Ltd, a firm of Registered Architects & Chartered Engineers, based in Roscommon Town and working throughout Ireland.
In his work Eamon has led multi-disciplined professional teams of experts providing planning and all engineering services from concept to completion on a varied range of high-profile projects across both the public and private sectors.
Of particular relevance to Connacht Rugby is Eamonn’s experience from his involvement in the redevelopment of Hyde Park GAA pitch, numerous GAA Centre of Excellences, Multi-Use sporting facilities & many other pitch design-builds.
Away from work Eamonn has always been very active as a volunteer in the area of sport, having been involved across Rugby, GAA and Golf. Most recently he has been a member of the executive committee of Buccaneers Rugby club and is currently finishing his two-year term as President of the club.
Board Member
Josephine Feehily
Josephine Feehily is an independent member of the Board of Connacht Rugby. She has over 20 years’ experience at the most senior levels in the Irish public service and, since her retirement from full-time executive work, in leading significant change initiatives on behalf of the Irish Government.
During her career she held a wide range of positions in the then Department of Social Welfare, the Pensions Board, and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners, – the Irish Tax and Customs agency. In Revenue, she was Commissioner from 1998 and executive Chair from 2008 to 2015.
Following her retirement from executive leadership, Josephine established and chaired the first Policing Authority of Ireland. She chaired the Commission on Pensions, which reported to Government in 2021 and currently chairs the governing Body of the Technological University of the Shannon.
A graduate of the National College of Ireland and Trinity College Dublin, Josephine was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Limerick in recognition of her public service career.
Chief Executive Officer
Willie Ruane
Willie Ruane was appointed CEO of Connacht Rugby in the summer of 2014. A Mayo native, Ruane played rugby for Connacht in the late 1990s and also represented Ireland at Colleges and U21 level.
Prior to joining Connacht, Ruane worked in the Banking Sector for 15 years and was a Director within Ulster Bank’s Business Restructuring Division.
Under his tenure as CEO, Willie Ruane has overseen a significant and substantial transformation of the club on and off the field. The club won their first ever trophy with the 2015/16 Guinness PRO12 victory, and he has played an instrumental part in the ongoing redevelopment of The Sportsground.