MR Tommy Collins, a former Evening Mail and Irish Times photographer, died in Dublin yesterday. He is best remembered for an international prize winning photograph he took in 1971 during a riot at a football match between Linfield and Cork Hibernians at Dalymount Park. The photograph showed a Linfield supporter receiving a blow from a police baton which shattered his glasses.
Mr Collins joined The Irish Times from the Evening Mail, where he was chief photographer. A former colleague said Mr Collins had a particular interest in sports photography. He covered the early stages of the Northern Ireland troubles in 1968-1969.
He served with the British army in North Africa in the second World War and was a keen supporter of the British Legion in Ireland. Mr Collins took early retirement from The Irish Times in 1976.
He is survived by his wife, Margaret, sons, daughters and grandchildren.