Mark Allen of Northern Ireland is the 2005 World Amateur Snooker Champion. For 2005/2006 he turned professional, reaching the last 32 of the Welsh Open, losing 5-2 to the then professional World Champion Shaun Murphy, after leading 2-0. He also got to the final qualifying round of the World Championship, losing to Andy Hicks.
Mark Allen was elected Mayor of Peoria Heights, Illinois in April, 2005. His election brought an end to the controversial tenure of Earl Carter, who had engineered a $1.1 million dollar change to Tower Park; a $425,000.00 public park built on a flood plain; and had begun plans that would have cost over $6 million dollars to change Prospect Road from a 4 lane road to a 2 lane road.