What Munster’s independent governance review is set to cost the province
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Review.
Munster’s independent governance review could end up costing the province a significant sum, with similar exercises across Irish sport and media running from tens of thousands into six figures, depending on the scope involved.
The review has already sparked a strong reaction, with former player, coach and pundit Bernard Jackman describing the move as “a load of nonsense” while speaking on the RTÉ Rugby Podcast.
“I think it’s a box-ticking exercise,” Jackman said.
“I think if you have good governance already in place, you don’t need somebody from the outside to come in and tell you what’s wrong.”
Munster have not disclosed the projected cost of the review, but similar exercises in Irish sport have run well into six figures, depending on the scale of the process.
The FAI’s governance review during its financial crisis in 2019 reportedly cost around €80,000, excluding VAT, once consultants and independent experts were brought in.
Munster’s review is unlikely to approach the scale of RTÉ’s recent governance controversies — where external consultancy costs reportedly exceeded €900,000 — but a serious independent process involving legal advisors, governance specialists, stakeholder interviews and implementation recommendations could still realistically land somewhere between €50,000 and €150,000.
Jackman also questioned how Munster had allowed recent issues to escalate to this stage.
“You shouldn’t need a review to tell you there are problems,” he said.
“That should already be obvious internally.”
The province has faced a difficult few months off the field, including the Roger Randle appointment controversy, financial pressure and growing scrutiny around leadership and decision-making structures.
“There’s no way this should have got to this stage,” Jackman added.
“Somebody internally should have been able to deal with this before it became public.”
The province has also announced voluntary redundancies due to financial problems, with forced redundancies reportedly set to follow, as not enough staff have accepted the package.
“I think if I was a Munster member of staff and I’d been asked to look at redundancy or I’m facing compulsory redundancy, which we’re led to believe is in the conversation, I’d be outraged that some of the money that could be going to keeping people in jobs, or developing Munster Rugby, or paying for underage pathways, is being wasted on a review that’s going to kick the thing down the line for a while,” Jackman added.
Munster confirmed earlier this week that the review will examine governance and organisational structures following the recent controversies surrounding the province.
While no timeline has been confirmed for its completion, the process is expected to involve independent experts reviewing internal systems, reporting structures and overall governance procedures.
The final cost will likely depend on how broad the review becomes and whether further recommendations or structural changes are required once the findings are delivered.
