Five players—reigning world champion Luca Brecel, Ali Carter, John Higgins, Mark Selby, and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh—did not enter the tournament, having planned to participate in an exhibition event originally scheduled for October 27 to 29 in Macau, China.

Following negotiations, the Macau exhibition event was rescheduled to be played from 22 to 24 December, and the WST granted the players permission to enter it.

Mark Allen was the defending champion, having defeated Zhou Yuelong 9‍–‍4 in the 2022 final, but he lost 3‍–‍4 to Andres Petrov in the last 64.

Judd Trump won the tournament, defeating Chris Wakelin 9‍–‍3 in the final to secure his fourth Northern Ireland Open title, following his previous wins in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

It was broadcast on Premier Sports in the Philippines; on Now TV in Hong Kong; on True Vision in Thailand; on Astro SuperSport in Malaysia and Brunei, and on Fastsports in Pakistan.

[5] The Sheffield qualifiers were broadcast in Europe (including the UK) by Discovery+; in China by Migu, Youku, and Huya Live; and streamed in all other territories by Matchroom Sport.

The breakdown of prize money is shown below: Five players—reigning world champion Luca Brecel, Ali Carter, John Higgins, Mark Selby, and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh—elected not to enter the Northern Ireland Open because they had planned to play at an exhibition event originally scheduled to take place from 27 to 29 October in Macau, China.

[10][11][12] Former WST chairman Barry Hearn warned the players—dubbed the "Macau Five" by some media outlets—that they could be fined, banned, or even expelled from the sport as a consequence.

The WST granted players permission to enter and dropped the threat of disciplinary action, stating that "a mutually agreeable solution has been reached".

[17] The defending champion Mark Allen subsequently commented: "I was offered the opportunity to play in Macau and the only reason I didn't was that it would clash with Belfast.

He called the WST's statements about the Macau event "amateurish", adding: "To say they've treated the players with respect is laughable when there have been threats of suing and banning them."

[5] Playing his second season on the professional tour, 18-year-old Ukrainian player Anton Kazakov reached the last 64 of a ranking event for the first time with a 4‍–‍1 victory over Long Zehuang.

Northern Irish player Jordan Brown advanced to the main stage of his home event with a 4‍–‍2 win over Stuart Carrington.

[24] After reaching his first ranking quarter-final at the previous week's 2023 Wuhan Open, Irish player Aaron Hill defeated former world seniors champion David Lilley 4‍–‍1.

Zhang Anda, runner-up at the English Open earlier that month, defeated 2023 World Championship semi-finalist and 26th seed Si Jiahui 4‍–‍1.

[5] World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan withdrew for medical reasons in advance of the tournament and was replaced in the draw by Rory McLeod.

[34] The defending champion and top seed Allen whitewashed Ben Mertens 4‍–‍0, with a highest break of 55, for his 14th consecutive win at the tournament.

[30][35] Allen described his performance as "average" but said "It wasn't about playing well tonight, it was about getting through a potential banana skin, because [Mertens is] a classy opponent".

However, Fu recovered to tie the scores at 3‍–‍3, winning the sixth frame after Murphy called a push shot foul on himself while potting the penultimate red.

[46] Trump made two centuries as he whitewashed Julien Leclercq in 45 minutes, extending his winning streak to 15 consecutive matches.

However, McGill obtained three snookers on the yellow to gain the required penalty points, and then won the frame on a re-spotted black.

Jak Jones defeated Mark Davis by the same score, making a 143 total clearance during the match, the highest break of his professional career.

[2] Brown, the last Northern Irish player remaining in the event, lost 2‍–‍4 to Yuan Sijun, who made breaks of 100, 97, and 77.

[48] Lisowski defeated Selt 4‍–‍1 and commented on a change of technique: "The way I feather the cue ball is a bit different this week, I am trying to give myself more time on the shot".

Wakelin was skeptical of Murphy's multiple cue strategy, commenting: "It's like putting Max Verstappen in Lewis Hamilton's car and expecting it all to fit perfectly and drive the same.

Saengkham made a 109 to regain the lead at 3‍–‍2 and had chances to win the match in the sixth frame, which came down to a lengthy safety battle on the colours.

Hawkins made a 57 break in the decider—potting blues and baulk colours from the reds, as pink and black were unavailable—to clinch a 5‍–‍4 victory and reach his 31st ranking semi-final.

[63][64] Trump began the evening session by making back-to-back centuries of 101 and 125 for a run of seven consecutive frames in the match, leaving him one from victory at 8‍–‍2.

It was Trump's 26th ranking title, putting him ahead of Williams in fifth place on the all-time list, behind only O'Sullivan, Hendry, John Higgins, and Steve Davis.

[5] Matches featuring the top sixteen seeds and two wildcards from Northern Ireland (Robbie McGuigan and Joel Connolly) were held over to be played in Belfast.