The Irish Rugby Union Players Association (IRUPA) is the representative body for professional rugby

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 players in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. Founded in October 2001, its aims are to promote and protect the welfare of professional rugby players in Ireland. The Chief Executive Officer is Niall Woods

Niall Woods

Niall Woods is a retired Irish rugby footballer. He retired in 2001 having earned 8 caps on the wing for the Irish national team between 1994 and 1999 as well as playing for Blackrock Coll, Dublin University, Leinster, London Irish, Harlequins and Northern Suburbs.-References:...

 and Marcus Horan

Marcus Horan

Marcus Horan is an Irish rugby union player who plays loose-head-prop for Munster and Ireland.Horan was educated at St. Munchin's College and Limerick Institute of Technology...

 is its current chairman. Its headquarters are on Leeson Street

Leeson Street

Leeson Street is a thoroughfare near central Dublin, Ireland.Originally known as Suesey Street, it was renamed in 1728 after the Leesons, a family of local brewers, who branched into property development and subsequently became Earls of Milltown....

 in Dublin.

Objectives

The associations objectives are:-

• To promote and protect the welfare of its members, both during and after their careers.
• To cater for the educational and welfare needs of its members, to ensure that they have sufficient preparation for the life after rugby.
• To work in partnership with the IRFU to further the cause of Rugby Union in Ireland.
• To be the representative mouthpiece for professional rugby players on issues of importance to the game.

Player Services Programme

IRUPA provides a Player Services Advisor. This provides player guidance on all aspects of their career, including education, personal development to prepare them for the transition to life after professional rugby.

Contract negotiations and dispute resolution

The association acts as a negotiator between players and their employer. They are involved with negotiating group contracts in areas such as match and win bonuses and act as a go-between in the event of disputes. This includes bringing industrial action if necessary

History

In October 2001 Ireland's professional rugby players set up the Irish Rugby Union Players' Association. Over 95% of all players with a contract with the IRFU joined the new body. Liam Toland and Peter McKenna

Peter McKenna (rugby)

Peter McKenna is a former Irish Rugby International, author, broadcaster and solicitor.-Early life:McKenna was educated at C.B.C. Monkstown where he played rugby for the school, representing Leinster Schools in 1991 and 1992. He went on to study law in University College Dublin and began playing...

 were appointed Chairman and Secretary.

In 2003, the members of the association realised the need for a full time employee and former Ireland International

Ireland national rugby union team

The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...

 Niall Woods

Niall Woods

Niall Woods is a retired Irish rugby footballer. He retired in 2001 having earned 8 caps on the wing for the Irish national team between 1994 and 1999 as well as playing for Blackrock Coll, Dublin University, Leinster, London Irish, Harlequins and Northern Suburbs.-References:...

 was appointed the first full time Chief Executive Officer.

Awards

IRUPA has run the annunal IRUPA Awards dinner from 2002 which gives recognition to rugby players in a number of categories. The awards dinner is run to support the injured players fund. The most prestigious award is the Players' Player of the Year award which is voted for by playing members of IRUPA.

List of Players' Player of the Year award winners

Year	Player	Team
2003	Malcolm O'Kelly Malcolm O'Kelly Malcolm O'Kelly is a retired Irish rugby union player who played as a lock for Ireland and Leinster....	Leinster Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...
2004	Gordon D'Arcy Gordon D'Arcy Gordon William D'Arcy is an Irish rugby player, more specifically an inside centre. He is registered to Lansdowne RFC and plays for provincial and RaboDirect Pro12 side Leinster.-Career:...	Leinster Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...
2005	Johnny O'Connor Johnny O'Connor Johnny O'Connor is a rugby union player for Connacht in the RaboDirect Pro12, and his position of choice is as a Flanker.He has played for Wasps in the Guinness Premiership before returning to Connacht....	London Wasps London Wasps London Wasps is an English professional rugby union team. The men's first team, which forms London Wasps, was derived from Wasps Football Club who were formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London, at the turn of professionalism in 1999...
2006	Paul O'Connell Paul O'Connell Paul O'Connell is an Irish rugby union player who plays lock for Munster and Ireland. He also captained the British and Irish Lions on their 2009 tour to South Africa.-Early life:...	Munster Munster Rugby Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...
2007	Gordon D'Arcy	Leinster Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...
2008	Tommy Bowe Tommy Bowe Thomas John "Tommy" Bowe is an Irish rugby union footballer from County Monaghan, Ireland...	Ospreys
2009	Brian O'Driscoll Brian O'Driscoll Brian O'Driscoll is an Irish professional rugby union player. He is the current captain of the Ireland Rugby team and captained Leinster Rugby until the start of 2008 season. He also captained the British and Irish Lions for their 2005 tour of New Zealand...	Leinster Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...
2010	Tommy Bowe *	Ospreys
2011	Isa Nacewa Isa Nacewa Isakeli Nacewa is a New Zealand-born rugby union footballer of Fijian descent. He is a utility back and represents Leinster Rugby in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup competitions. He previously represented the Blues in the Super Rugby competition and Auckland in the Air New Zealand Cup...	Leinster Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...

* Tommy Bowe was also awarded the 2010 WRPA Players Player of the Year Award.

Other awards

Other awards include the Young Player of the Year award, Try of the Year and the Unsung Hero as well as the Hall of Fame.

List of Hall of Fame inductees

The IRUPA Hall of Fame includes the following members:

Year	Inductee(s)
2003	Mick Galwey, Peter Clohessy Peter Clohessy Peter Martin Noel Clohessy is a former Irish rugby union footballer. Clohessy played for Munster and Ireland...
2004	Keith Wood Keith Wood Keith Gerard Mallinson Wood and educated at St Munchin's College, Limerick is a former international rugby union footballer who played hooker for Ireland, the Lions, Garryowen, Harlequins and Munster.... , Paddy Johns Paddy Johns Patrick Stephen Johns, known as Paddy Johns was an Irish rugby union player from 1990 to 2000. He played mainly as a lock and occasionally in the back-row.He won 59 caps, scoring 4 tries and 20 points...
2005	Eric Elwood Eric Elwood Eric Elwood is a former rugby union player and was capped first for Ireland while playing for Connacht and Lansdowne before he returned to Galwegians RFC, the club of his youth....
2006	Jeremy Davidson Jeremy Davidson Jeremy Davidson is a rugby union lock who played club rugby for Dungannon RFC, Ulster, London Irish and Castres Olympique. At international level he represented Ireland with 32 caps and also represented the British and Irish Lions...
2007	Victor Costello Victor Costello Victor Costello is a retired Irish rugby player and Olympic shot-putter. Playing senior rugby throughout the 1990s until his retirement in 2005, his rugby career with Leinster and Ireland straddled the amateur and professional eras...
2008	David Humphreys
2009	Anthony Foley Anthony Foley Anthony "Axel" Foley is a retired Irish rugby union footballer. He was educated at St Munchin's College in Limerick.-Shannon:...
2010	Girvan Dempsey Girvan Dempsey Girvan Dempsey is a retired rugby union footballer who played at full back for Leinster and Ireland.- Rugby career :...

Injured players fund

IRUPA administers the injured players fund which provides support to players who are forced to retire from rugby due to illness or injury. The fund is reliant on individual and corporate donations. The IRUPA annual awards dinner is also a major part of the its fundraising activity. Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake

2010 Haiti earthquake

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...

, IRUPA made a donation of €20,000 from the injured players fund to assist with relief efforts through aid agency Concern

Concern Worldwide

Concern Worldwide is Ireland's largest aid and humanitarian agency. Since its foundation over 40 years ago it has worked in 50 countries and currently employs 3,200 staff in 25 countries around the world. Concern works to help those living in the world's poorest countries to achieve real and...

.