Ronnie, Hawkins in final

O'Sullivan was a 6-5 semi-final winner over Scot John Higgins, while Hawkins held his nerve to clinch victory over Fergal O'Brien by the same scoreline at the Ormonde Hotel.

"The pockets are really big - I couldn't miss out there," said O'Sullivan, who added breaks of 80, 53, 69, 134 and 90 to his quarter-final 147, the seventh maximum of his career.

"To be honest, John played better than me, he deserved to win. I played well, but the table helped me. It was a great atmosphere in the arena. The Irish love their snooker, so it was good fun."

In the other semi, Hawkins made three centuries - 131, 104 and 107 - as well as a break of 72 to battle back from 5-2 behind to win the last four frames to beat Dubliner O'Brien.