The popularity of the Northern Ireland Open further underlines the "shame" that a World Snooker Tour event is not held south of the border according to Shaun Murphy.
The Englishman, ranked seven in the world, lives in Dublin. He was knocked of the tournament, which is held at the Waterfront Hall, on Thursday at the last-16 stage by Chris Wakelin.
"It's wonderful to be back in Belfast," Murphy told the World Snooker Tour YouTube channel after victory over Sean O'Sullivan in the previous round.
"I tweeted before the tournament that it is one of my favourite stops, and I think it is one of everyone's favourite stops on the tour of all the places we go.
"It's obviously very near for me. I only live two hours down the road in Dublin, but this island, the island of Ireland, is a bit of a sporting Mecca.
The question on everyone's lips...
When will Shaun Murphy's second cue come into play?#NIOpen | @Magician147 pic.twitter.com/Fqc2kSTIIz— World Snooker Tour (@WeAreWST) October 25, 2023
"The success of this event only highlights for me the shame that we don't have a professional event in the Republic of Ireland.
"And maybe whoever is in charge of those decisions, be it WST or maybe a broadcaster in the Republic, I'm not sure, but it would be great to see because when we go out for a stroll around Belfast, snooker is alive and well here."
The last World Snooker Tour event to be held in Ireland was the 2013 Tour Championship Grand Final which was played at the Bailey Allen Hall at the University of Galway.
"As someone who lives on the island, I can promise you snooker is very popular here," said Murphy.
"It would be great to see the Republic hosting a professional event as well."
Ireland's Aaron Hill was defeated 4-1 by Jack Lisowski in the last-16 on Thursday. The Corkman had defeated Fan Zhengyi in the opening round and Dylan Emery in the last-32.
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭! 💫
Aaron Hill bounced this red off the black to pot it! ⚫🔴#NIOpen pic.twitter.com/VjnCM1Otiw— Eurosport (@eurosport) October 26, 2023
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