Snooker & Billiards Ireland are delighted to announce the above awards for the 2025/26 season. This bursary award has been made possible by John Carney and C.Con. John Carney himself a tough opponent who plays on the super senior tour and was a formidable player back in the early 80’s when the likes of Eugene Hughes and Dessie Sheehan were at their best, John himself was a constant thorn in their side and only for family reasons did he decide not to go across the pond to try his hand at professional snooker.
John reached out to us in early August last year and we have had many meetings since. The main point of these meetings was to decide how best we could utilise a sponsorship deal and throughout the process John was very interested in finding out why we haven’t achieved more success around the world in the amateur game and why we do not have more professional players from Ireland.
It was decided only last week that we would create the C.Con bursary awards. A €2,000 in total sponsorship in the form of two, €1,000 bursary awards.
The winner of the 2026 men’s Irish Amateur championship will receive a bursary award of €1,000 to make sure his flights, accommodation and meals are paid for, giving him the best possible chance of concentrating on the EBSA men’s championship where a professional ticket is up for grabs for the winner. The second €1,000 bursary will go to the overall ranked number one men’s player to go towards his flights, accommodation and meals, so he too has the best possible chance of concentrating on the job ahead and securing a professional tour card.
This is a momentous day for Irish snooker as we look for outstanding businesses to partner with over the next 5 years. I have no doubt with C.Con leading the way it will open doors for us to attract more sponsorship but for now it’s all about John himself and the bursary awards. The start of what we hope is the road to our next professional players.
I want to take this opportunity to thank John for his passion and commitment to getting this over the line and also wishing him the very best in the upcoming Super Seniors National Championships.
Tommy O’Donoghue
SBI Chairman
John Carney (Pictured far right of top picture)
