ForeFront Sports, the team behind the successful return of the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, The Irish Legends and other major sporting events has just announced the launch of ForeFront Communications a new division of the company which will be spearheaded by Managing Director, Eimear McManus.
TheForeFront Group, was founded by Cian Branagan in 2020 following 15 years in the sports industry, most notably at IMG where he led the delivery on some of the biggest golf events in the world across every major Tour.
Eimear McManus, who was featured in The Irish Times 30 Under 30, is the founder of Digital Works Agency in London, which has recently been acquired by ForeFront Group.
The pair have a good working history as for the last two years, McManus was the Head of Marketing and PR for the KPMG Women’s Irish Open, while ForeFront CEO, Cian Branagan was the Tournament Director for the event.
Following on from their work together on the KPMG Women’s Open they have been looking to collaborate on a 360 communications agency and Forefront Communications was developed as a result.
While golf plays a big role in the business, ForeFront Communications brings a wealth of experience across cycling, football, rugby, cricket and many new areas of sports innovation including VR sports.
Sports and business are engrained in both Branagan and McManus’s family history with the Branagan family heavily involved in sport for generations and he is the grandson of iconic Irish golfer, Joe J.B Carr while McManus comes from a family with a passion for sports and is the niece of Irish businessman and philanthropist, JP McManus.
Speaking about the announcement, Cian Branagan commented, “I am delighted to be able to share this news on our expansion into communication. It has always been a business plan to expand Forefront Sports into The Forefront Group and in turn, Forefront Communications. There is no one more suitable to spearhead the next phase of Forefront’s expansion than Eimear. Eimear’s wealth of knowledge of the sports industry and experience across all areas of communications will no doubt lead this new division to the Forefront of the sports industry across Ireland and the UK.”
Eimear McManus echoed some of the sentiments and added, “I am so thrilled to announce my role as Managing Director of ForeFront Communications. This announcement has been in the works for a long time and I couldn’t be more excited.
“I first met Cian and the ForeFront team when they made an inquiry to DW after seeing our social content for the JP McManus Pro-Am. They were looking for marketing support for the KPMG Women’s Irish Open and look where we are today! Two years on and I’m thrilled to officially join the ForeFront Group to set up ForeFront Communications. Very excited to get going.”
ForeFront Communications will offer marketing and PR services to sports brands, events and government bodies across the UK and Ireland. Details can be found on www.forefrontsports.ie
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