The first 6 months of 2026 in referee stats 🏉
- clarecm
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
From left to right, new ref Timothy Sweeney and new Elite refs Ronaldo Lukason & Paul Daly
ITRA games could not go ahead without one very important person - the referee. Here are some stats that show how truly important these referees are to the everyday running of our sport. These stats are from Dublin alone, which is our biggest region and is centrally managed; but throughout the year, ITRA games are happening up to four nights a week across the country in regions like Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Cork, Kildare and more!
In total, Dublin has had 2,033 games of tag between the 1st of January 2026 and the 31st June 2026, with the busiest month by far being June.
Number of games held in Dublin by month: (These figures do not include forfeits or postponed/cancelled games - these are all games that went ahead and required a referee)
Games Reffed Per Month | Total |
January | 239 |
February | 247 |
March | 286 |
April | 329 |
May | 387 |
June | 545 |
Total: | 2033 |
Here is the leaderboard for the most games reffed each month, with VM-Ref Timi Urunakairewa topping the charts most months, followed closely by multiple-nights-a-week refs like Liam Ó Discín, who made the top 3 in four of the six months, and Andrew Sheehan, who made the top three in three out of the six months.
January:
🏆 Timi Urunakairewa - 30 (VM Ref)
🥈 Rory O’ Keeffe - 20
🥉Wesley McDonald - 20
February: 🏆 Liam Ó Discín - 26
🥈 Aayush Gajare - 23
🥉 Darragh Kennedy - 15 March: 🏆 Timi Urunakairewa - 33 (VM Ref) 🥈 Andrew Sheehan - 26
🥉 Liam Ó Discín - 18 Honourable mention: New 2026 ref Séamus Owens - 17 April: 🏆 Timi Urunakairewa - 37 (VM Ref)
🥈 Aayush Gajare - 32
🥉 Andrew Sheehan - 22 Honourable mentions: New 2026 ref Seamus Owens - 20 May: 🏆 Liam Ó Discín - 27 & Timi Urunakairewa - 27 (VM Ref)
🥈 Andrew Sheehan - 23
🥉 Eoin Kiernan - 23 Honourable mentions: New 2026 ref Nathan Broderick - 21 and New 2026 Ref Connor McComb - 20 June: 🏆 Killian O'Reilly - 48
🥈 Liam Ó Discín - 32
🥉 Rory O’ Keeffe - 32 & (new 2026 ref) Barry Carmody - 32
Referee Pool
To give you an idea of our active referee pool, in January ITRA paid out 22 referees for Dublin league games and in June 2026, ITRA paid out 37 referees for the same. In the first six months of 2026, 47 new rookies began referee training in Dublin, with 25 successfully graduating and entering the referee pool at a wide variation of activity, from acting as cover & reserve to reffing multiple venues every week.
Some of our new refs have really taken to it; take Timothy Sweeney for example, who was our first 2026 rookie to graduate training and whose experience you can read about here!
From left to right, new 2026 refs Stephen Dallas, Alex Orpin and Finnlay Ryan
Four experienced refs have achieved their Elite ratings in 2026, with more being assessed and receiving feedback by and from our ever-expanding team of assessors, and a handful of 2026 rookies went on to achieve their Social A rating with intent to aim for Elite in the future.
Payment & Renumeration
ITRA has put in place a number of new payment structures and rewards in place in 2026, to continue expanding our reffing pool.
For example, we have a player-ref initative - for player refs who successfully complete the (paid) rookie ref training, ITRA will refund the individual cost of the first league the player plays and refs in. Another example is the referral scheme, where any ref who refers a friend will be paid €50 once their referral completes the training and refs on three individual nights. We have also instituted a standard additional payment for referees who contribute to training the rookie refs; which comes on top of the reffing payment on the night in question.
ITRA also has a long-standing incentive for International tag players where they can put their reffing payments towards their World Cup costs, and with a World Cup in Australia this year, international tag players are encouraged and very welcome to put themselves forward to ref. So far, a handful of internationals players - who have made very strong referees - have taken advantage of this incentive and paid off most of their World Cup costs by picking up a whistle!
What Are Referee Ratings?
Previously, referee ratings were A, B and C. In the interest of clarity, we have renamed these to better align with the levels of tag available. The new referee ratings are:
Elite: A ref qualified to take on mixed, men's and women's Premiership, including National League and National Championship fixtures.
Social A: A ref qualified to take on Social A or Division 1 games.
Social: A ref qualified to ref games in all Social leagues.
Rookie: A trainee ref.
Refs start out as rookies and are qualified Social referees once they complete the training program. Referees gain Social A or Elite qualification through ongoing assessments and feedback. Each new level achieved brings an increase in the rate paid per game.
This process is, as always, overseen by our Head of Referees, Rory O' Keeffe. Any further questions on the process can be directed to him.
What Are The Pay Rates?
ITRA Referees are paid per game, and can ref up to 4 games per night depending on the venue.
Payment rates are:
Elite referees: €15 per game (+€1 for Mixed, Men's or Women's Prem games)
Social A referees: €14.50 per game
Social referees: €13.50 per game
The training for Rookie Refs is paid at a rate of €13.50 an hour for a total of 8 hours. Rookie refs receive this €108 upon completion of the training. Training involves one online session with the Head of Referees and three on-pitch sessions, where the rookie starts out shadowing an experienced referee and is given increasing control over the game.
You can find out even more details by checking out our our referee sign-up page.
I'm Not A Player - How Can I Start Reffing?
We train refs up from the start, so no prior experience is required. The most important skills are an outgoing personality and a love of sport. ITRA is currently taking applications and running trainings with rookies. The link to express interest in refereeing is available here.
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