Carney made a try-scoring début for the Barbarians against the Scarlets on 31 January 2009. He participated in the Dubai World Cup Sevens as part of a 12-man Irish squad, finishing up as joint top Irish try scorer with three tries. Though in a tough pool stage including Samoa, Australia and Portugal, they did manage to defeat Australia 24–21, with Carney getting a try. He scored two more tries in the Bowl semi-final victory over Hong Kong. They went on to lose 17–14 to Zimbabwe in the Bowl Final for an overall ranking of 10th, but by beating Australia showed that Ireland have the class to compete with the best.