Awarding-winning press photographer Mick O’Neill has been named as the victim of a fatal road-traffic collision in north Dublin.
Mr O’Neill, who worked mainly for the Irish Star and Irish Daily Mirror, was killed while riding a motorcycle close to Dublin Airport on Saturday morning.
He was treated at the scene by paramedics and then taken by ambulance to the Mater hospital in Dublin where he was later pronounced dead.
A Garda investigation is under way and the scene was examined by Garda forensic collision investigators. Gardaí in Santry are carrying out the inquiry and have appealed for witnesses to come forward.
“The collision, involving a motorcycle and a tractor-trailer, occurred on the Old Airport Road, Collinstown Lane, at approximately 10:50am,” the Garda said.
Mr O’Neill was winner of the Press Photographers Association News Picture of the Year award in 2021 and won the Sports Picture of the Year in 2006.
The 62-year-old from Swords, Co Dublin, is survived by his wife, Lorraine, and son Karl as well as his two grandchildren, Mya and Kai. He was a motorsport enthusiast who regularly travelled to the Isle of Man to watch the TT races and was also press officer for Motorcycling Ireland for two years in the 1990s.
Neil Leslie, editor of the Irish Star and the Irish Daily Mirror, said all of Mr O’Neill’s colleagues across the wider Reach media group were devastated at his loss.
“On behalf of Reach, I would like to extend our deepest sympathies and offer our support to his family and all his many friends and colleagues,” he said. “Mick was a truly outstanding journalist and photographer. Moreover, he was a great friend and a wise mentor to the other journalists who worked alongside him over many years.”
Mr O’Neill worked on many crime stories in Ireland and defence-related assignments abroad, often alongside Irish Daily Star crime and defence editor Michael O’Toole, who described him as “the snapper’s snapper”. He added that Mr O’Neill had a gift for dealing with people during his work.
“There was nobody who came close to him. He travelled all over Ireland and the world doing a job he loved and excelled at, one which came naturally to him,” Mr O’Toole said.
“I have never seen any media professional as gifted as Mick at talking to people, at making them feel at ease in the most stressful of situations – at connecting with them, essentially. He made the job of the reporter working with him easy.”
Paul Healy, crime correspondent at the Irish Daily Star, described Mr O’Neill as a “mentor and a friend” and someone who loved his family, with complete dedication to his work.
“He had an incredible way with people, and even though it would be me doing the interview he was often the one that had gotten the best lines out of someone. He had a keen news sense, incredible contacts, and after over 30 years in the business still had an incredible appetite to work.”
Dan Linehan, Irish Examiner chief photographer and director and vice-president of Press Photographers Ireland, said Mr O’Neill was known across the industry for the standard of his work. He would also be remembered for “his wicked sense of humour which was appreciated by all his colleagues in the media”.
“Mick would always give me a ring to inquire about a news story when coming to Cork. I met him recently while covering the Michael Gaine story in Kenmare,” Mr Linehan said.
“He was a brilliant photographer and he showed me a recent picture which I thought was the best news picture taken this year. He had great pride in his work and won a recent award at the press photographers Ireland 2025.”
