Mark Allen gave the town of Antrim something to cheer about with his run to the World Championship semi-finals — and now snooker’s rising star aims to put something back.

Allen, who beat defending champion Ronnie O’Sullivan during his great run at the Crucible Theatre, has plans to revive the Irish Professional Championship and stage the tournament at the Antrim Forum.

And if the World number 14 gets his way, it could all happen before the summer is out.

Allen explained: “We have had our problems in Northern Ireland over the years and what happened at Massereene Barracks in Antrim earlier this year was terrible.

“Obviously snooker is insignificant by comparison but bringing the Irish Professional Championship to Antrim would be a nice boost for the town.

“The Antrim Forum would be an ideal venue. The tournament was actually held at the Forum many years ago and it would be great to bring a big event like that to Antrim. I will be approaching businesses with a view to coming on board as sponsors.

“With Joe Swail and myself doing reasonably well, it would be a good time to bring the tournament to Northern Ireland. It has been played in Dublin for a number of years but didn’t take place last year.

“There are 12 active professionals in Ireland at the moment so that would make for a competitive tournament, especially with the likes of former World champion Ken Doherty and Fergal O’Brien taking part.

“It could be played at the end of August and be completed in about four days.

“It would be a real bonus for all the Irish-based players as we would be getting match practice against fellow professionals,” said Allen.

With the Waterfront Hall-based Northern Ireland Trophy, won last year by Ronnie O’Sullivan, looking unlikely to take place, there would be an obvious slot for a tournament in Ireland in late August.

Allen admits he would be sad to see the demise of the Northern Ireland Trophy, which was the only ranking tournament this side of the Irish Sea and an event which drew support from across the community.

“Joe Swail and myself both got great support when we played in the tournament.

“Joe would have his band of supporters and I would have mine but then Joe’s supporters would stay on to support me and vice versa. And that was great to see because we are such a small community with so few players that we all need to pull together,” said Allen, who voiced support for international team snooker to be brought back.

“There is potential for some form of international team snooker, whether we entered as a Northern Ireland team or an all Ireland team. I am sure people would come out and support that type of event,” he said.

Allen is now back living in Antrim but facing the heartache of a battle over access rights to his three-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

“It looks like it’s going to be a long drawn out process. I haven’t seen my daughter in 10 months which isn’t good. It looks like it might be a while before I get to see her.

“I like living in Northern Ireland, close to family and friends. When I want to sharpen up my game I head across to England.”

Allen’s run to the semi-finals of the World Championship propelled him into the big time and he is determined to build on his achievement.

“Beating Ronnie O’Sullivan on such a big stage was a great achievement but it’s just a pity I couldn’t go on to win the tournament. After our match Ronnie told me that I had played well and could go on to win the title. Coming from somebody like Ronnie that meant a lot.

“I’m getting closer to winning tournaments and having reached the last four of the World Championship I would hope to challenge for the World title next season,” he said.

Allen is well used to — and perhaps a bit tired of — comparisons with Northern Ireland’s former champions Alex Higgins and Dennis Taylor.

“Taylor won his world title in 1985 and I was born in 1986 so that puts it into some sort of perspective. But obviously I know all about Taylor and Higgins and all the history. Joe Swail has carried the flag very well since then.

“I suppose that on the table in the past I would have had some similarities to Alex Higgins.

“I’d be the first to admit that when I was younger my temperament wasn’t great. I was banned from the international team at a time.

“I used to thump the table and bang the cue off the ground but I try not do do that sort of thing now. I annoyed Ken Doherty once with that sort of behaviour but I didn’t mean any harm by it.”

And Allen isn’t coy when it comes to airing his views on snooker’s current enigmatic superstar, Ronnie O’Sullivan (inset).

He said: “There are things Ronnie gets away with that other players just wouldn’t. It should be the same rules for everyone. As much as Ronnie sometimes says negative things about snooker, he is still brilliant for the game because of the way he plays.”

Unusually for a snooker player, Allen is partially colour blind.

“I would only have a bit of a problem if the brown was close to the reds. In that situation I jusk ask the referee to point out the brown,” explained Allen, a six handicap golfer and a Manchester United season ticket holder.

What a dream it would be for Allen to follow in the footsteps of Ken Doherty and parade the World Championship trophy at Old Trafford.