THE SDLP lord mayor of Belfast Pat Convery opened the book of condolences for Alex Higgins yesterday morning at Belfast City Hall and Sinn Féin’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness was later among those to pay tribute.
Mr McGuinness wrote: “All of the Irish people who were so proud of your mighty achievements on the snooker table are now so saddened at your passing. North, south, east and west, you were one of us.”
In between these two signings, the ordinary people of Belfast and Ireland, and even further afield, turned up in a steady stream throughout the day to remember the Hurricane who was found dead at his flat close to Sandy Row in south Belfast on Saturday.
As plans are prepared for his funeral, scores of people arrived at City Hall and at another book of condolences signing in the Guildhall at Derry City Council.
John Burns, from south Belfast, remembered seeing a fresh-faced 17-year-old Higgins turning up at the St Paul’s snooker room in west Belfast in the early 1960s.
“He played some fellow and he was so good that I just felt like packing up my cue for ever,” he recalled. “Alex could start a row in an empty room but he was mercurial, he was special, he was a genius.”
John Sloan from Kilkeel, Co Down, said he knew Higgins for about four decades. “You can see me on the old TV pictures of when he won the world championship in 1982; I was the first man to shake his hand after he defeated Ray Reardon,” he said.
“It was sad to think of him dying alone. He was a character, no man ever lifted a cue like him. I would have known them all, Jimmy White, Steve Davis, Willie Thorne, Terry Griffiths but in all honesty there was no spark. Higgins had to be there for the spark.”
Ulster Unionist councillor Bob Stoker, who grew up in the same neighbourhood as Higgins, said that loyalist Belfast and Northern Ireland generally was very proud of the Hurricane and his snooker achievements. “He left his mark,” he added.
Many of the tributes brought George Best into the frame, so to speak, with Derek Mullan writing: “You and George – have a great party.” Billy Rankin, from Bangor, also alluded to a celestial hooley involving the snooker and football talents. “I just hope he is remembered for his snooker as opposed to his off-the-table problems.”
Harry Wilson from Donaghadee, Co Down, suggested that actor Oliver Reed should join the party. “They could all sing a song together.”