Irish Masters
The Irish Masters was a professional snooker tournament. It was founded in 1978, but only became a ranking tournament from the 2002/03 season. Up until 2000 it was played at Goffs, Co.Kildare. But after Benson & Hedges were banned from sponsoring the tournament in 2001, the tournament got a new sponsor, The Irish Government, as well as a new venue at The Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Co.Dublin.
In 1998, Ken Doherty claimed the title despite losing in the final 9 frames to 3 after his opponent, Ronnie O'Sullivan, failed a subsequent drugs test.
In December 2005, the governing body of snooker, World Snooker, announced that the competition would not appear on the 05/06 calendar. They confirmed that this was because they had failed to reach an agreement with The Citywest Hotel and RTÉ over the dates on which the tournament could be held.
