Putting people before policy worked for Ireland's longest standing politician: Cllr Noel Collins, 1933-2022

He had a deep commitment to social justice that characterised his personality and his politics throughout his life

Cllr Noel Collins with Ballyannon Wood in the background which is located at  Ballinacurra, Co Cork, outside Midleton, the east Cork town where he settled in 1965. File picture: Maurice O'Mahony

Cork County Councillor, Noel Collins, who died on June 13, was Ireland’s longest-serving public representative.

Coining the slogan, “Collins will be around when others can’t be found”, the east Cork politician never lost an election, from his first election campaign in 1967 to his final candidature in 2019.