On this day 17th July 1986 the Republic of Ireland Ladies Snooker Association was officially formed at a meeting in the Pierrot Snooker Club on Batchelors Walk Dublin as the National Governing Body for Female Cue Sports at the time
With the support of the Irish Snooker Control Council RILSA was welcomed and high time that women were to be recognised in cue sports here in Ireland for the first time
Gloria Ruane would be elected as our first official President at the meeting and following on from that the late Paddy Comerford, Tommy Goulding, Dermot Dalton all played their part in the initial setup and were so supportive of this new Organisation
Margaret Browne who is still on the RILSA tour and is now an Honorary member of our Organisation played a vital role as Secretary during the early years of RILSA
Annette Newman our current President reached the final of the 1986 RILSA National Snooker Championship and is still participating on the tour after all these years
Both Annette and Margaret are certainly dedicated and loyal members of the Organisation which has evolved to now become the largest Female Cue Sports Organisation in Ireland and indeed the World with over 1,200 active members mainly through our Schools initiatives over the past 10 years or so
We continue to build on our already successful activities with over 130 days allocated to females on our annual calendar of events and many Champions have been crowned especially within the last 12 years with the introduction of more National Championships at Intermediate level, U21s in Snooker, Billiards and Pool initiated
The Special needs area is very successful and our National events in Billiards has been a great success since its formation in 2015.
Due to the establishment of the Republic of Ireland Ladies Billiards Association in 2015 and the Republic of Ireland Ladies Pool Association in 2023 it was necessary to form a new umbrella body in Female Cue Sports Ireland where all three Associations are recognised under this new Organisation that was established in 2023
As we commence the celebrations of 40 years of RILSA we will have a Documentary on the Organisation due out later in 2026 and a book/almanac publication is with our publishers at present. This will show the history of RILSA and the future developments and projects that are being rolled out over the coming months and years as we continue to grow female cue sports at grass root level through our member school academies
Many initiatives were introduced and just to mention a few, the Gaisce Presidents Award where Female cue sports is part of its criteria is in place along with a scholarship for girls at Maynooth University
While some in the snooker community are reluctant to support and recognise us as the National Governing Body for Female Cue Sports here in Ireland, we have engaged with both Sport Ireland and Government in recent times where we received notice that we at Female Cue Sports Ireland can operate as the NGB for Female Cue Sports Ireland without prejudice and continue to run National Championship Events as such and it is only fair and right we are recognised as the NGB for Female Cue Sports here in Ireland as was officially accepted back on this day 17th July 1986 at the AGM meeting in the Pierrot Snooker Club all those years ago
