Dear Members of Snooker & Billiards Ireland.
As most people now know the Ivy Rooms will not be re-opening. There have been so many memories made down through the years at the Iconic Venue, friends were made, battles were won and lost, historic moments in our sport occurred in those famous rooms and it certainly was destination number one for National Championships, International Events and all things Snooker and Billiards.
In these tough times for businesses and the sport and many other walks of life there are many changes happening and with the Ivy Rooms now closing its doors I think that I speak on behalf of everyone associated with the game that we owe a great deal to Marian and Jim for their support all through the years and it will always be remembered by anyone involved in the game.
Marian and her staff at the Ivy Rooms have always been very professional in their approach to everyone who entered the rooms and it will always be appreciated and we at SBI want to wish Marian, Jim and the staff of the Ivy Rooms the very best in what they do in the future.
NOW SBI has to respond and act to the current situation and let me assure every member we are doing just that. There have been two sub-committee groups set up to work out how we can acquire our own purpose build premises for Snooker, Billiards, meetings and Coaching.
We are working actively to do just this and are in the coming days and weeks searching a large area of our Country to find the place SBI will call home for the foreseeable future. We want to acquire a premises that is purpose built and ready to accommodate our sporting needs with a venue specifically set up for our ranking events, championships and coaching zones.
People need not be concerned about the future of the game within SBI because we can assure you we will strive and work tirelessly to achieve our goal of having our own premises to work from with a National Academy and home for Snooker & Billiards in Ireland.
There will be further information about our progresses here on your website as your National Governing Body proceeds in to the future with this and many other positive initiatives.
Yours in Sport
Derek Kiely
National Secretary Snooker & Billiards Ireland
