In 1985, Cannon earned his Bachelor of Arts in English and history from the University College Dublin. For the next 15 years, Cannon travelled to England, Spain and Peru, working in local government, English teaching and development. In 1995 while in London, Cannon obtained his part-time Master of Science in sociology. In 2000, he returned to Ireland to earn his Phd from the Dublin City University studying Latin American populism under Peadar Kirby. While spending eight months of studying in Peru and Venezuela for his Phd, Cannon witnessed the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt and in 2004, he completed his Phd at Dublin City University.