O’CONNOR CALLS FOR EURO TOUR EVENT IN IRELAND
07/05/2026 By Aaron Nijjar
WILLIAM O’CONNOR has doubled down on calls for a Euro Tour event in Ireland to give young stars “something to work towards”.
Dublin hosted the World Grand Prix until 2020 before the tournament was moved to Leicester during the Covid pandemic after Citywest was repurposed for health services.
‘The Magpie’ believes Irish darts has been left behind without a major event on home soil.
O’Connor admitted he has not spoken directly to PDC chief Matt Porter but says a ranked competition in his home country would be a huge boost for both players and supporters.
He told the Weekly Dartscast: “No, I wouldn’t. There’s nothing I can say or do to change anything in their minds. They’re the brains of the business.
“I’m just the gears. I just do what I’m told. I turn up to my events, I play as much as I can.
“But look, to be fair, we are part of Europe. We do everything as Europe, like it or not. And at the end of the day, we don’t have the Grand Prix anymore.
“We don’t have any tournaments in Ireland anymore. And I think, I don’t see why not, like give us something. You know what I mean?
“Fair enough, we get the Premier League, but like give us something to go for. Like, I mean, Euro Tour, I think it’ll do a great thing, a great thing for Irish darts.
“I think it’ll do a great thing for Europe. I think it’ll do great things for the PDC in general and the youth coming up as well.
“Give them something to work towards and take over from the likes of myself and the rest of the Irish boys.”
The world No.40 reckons he may never have taken up darts without watching the World Grand Prix and fears the next generation could now miss out.
He added: “When we were growing up, we had the Grand Prix to look forward to.
“I said, we might never make a TV tournament, but if we have a good day, maybe we can make a TV tournament like the Grand Prix.
“Without that, I probably wouldn’t be in the PDC or even there today, because I wouldn’t have said, I’m never going to have that opportunity or chance or get that good.
“But I said, there were a couple of places up for grabs and that’s what kept me interested. I think we need that for our youth coming up.”
Image by Taylor Lanning.
