Aidan McCullen
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| Born | 5 January 1977 Dublin, Ireland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 110 kg (17 st 5 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Castleknock College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Trinity College Dublin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Aidan McCullen (born 5 January 1977) is an Irish businessman, broadcaster and former Ireland national rugby union team player. McCullen hosts The Innovation Show, a weekly podcast featuring interviews with people involved in innovation, strategy and leadership.[1] He is also the founder of the "Reinvention Summit", an annual innovation and transformation event held in Dublin.[2] McCullen is married to former Miss Ireland model Niamh Redmond. They have two sons.[3]
McCullen started playing rugby at Castleknock College after moving to Dublin from County Meath. He represented Leinster at schools level and captained both the Leinster under-19 and under-20 teams before progressing to the Ireland U21 side.[4]
In 1998, after playing for Ireland U21s, McCullen spent a season with US Dax in the French first division before returning to Ireland to join Lansdowne Football Club in the All-Ireland League.[4] He signed for Leinster Rugby in 2001 as Irish rugby shifted its focus from the All-Ireland League to the emerging Celtic League. That year he also represented the Ireland Sevens in the 2001 Rugby World Cup Sevens.[5]
McCullen made 60 appearances for Leinster and earned a senior international cap for Ireland in a match against Samoa on 20 June 2003.[6][7]
In 2005, he signed for Toulouse. The French newspaper La Dépêche described him as a "bonne pioche" (a "good pick") for the club.[8] Although he broke into the starting team and played 16 games for Toulouse over a period of 6 months, a knee injury limited his time at the club.[6] He joined London Irish in 2006, remaining with that club until 2008.[6]
McCullen later returned to Ireland and served as a player-coach with Lansdowne from the 2008/2009 season.[6]
For several years, McCullen also worked as a rugby commentator with Setanta Sports (later Eir Sport).[citation needed]