The tournament would evoke the Asia Cup, featuring a handful of European teams – potentially including England, Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands and Italy – and would involve both men’s and women’s fixtures, most likely T20.

MacNeice said that he was “very passionate” about the idea and that he had raised it with ECB officials during England’s brief T20I tour to Ireland last September. ESPNcricinfo understands that the ECB has not been involved in recent discussions around the proposal.

“I’ve had this on the table for discussion with various stakeholders for quite some time,” MacNeice said on Friday, while launching Ireland’s home international fixtures for 2026. “It’s something that I’m very passionate about and that I fundamentally believe in.

“The conversations have now developed and evolved to a point that I’m much more confident that it is going to happen… There’s multiple stakeholders that will be part of that in due course, but I would anticipate that it will kick off in the summer of ’27, and the precise format and detail of it will be announced in due course – I would expect in the next couple of months.

“There’s ongoing discussions with various different stakeholders and parties associated with it… To be clear from the outset, that’s a men’s and women’s event. It’s a little bit early from a broadcaster perspective to be going out until it’s all locked in, but we anticipate that there will be broadcast appetite for it.”

Ireland announced long-term arrangements with the Emirates Cricket Board and the Cricket Association of Nepal on Friday that will see their men’s national team play regular white-ball series against the UAE and Nepal, and will also involve each ILT20 franchise signing at least one Ireland player from 2026-27 onwards.