Published Saturday, 24 July 2010
Higgins, who was born in Belfast, had been ill for some time.
His body was discovered on Saturday after concerned friends broke into his Belfast flat having failed to contact him by phone. It is not known how long he had been dead inside the apartment.
The 61-year-old had been battling cancer for more than a decade. He also suffered from long-standing problems with alcohol and smoking.
Higgins died alone in sheltered accommodation in the Donegall Road area of Belfast.
He was crowned World Champion on two occasions and runner-up twice. He was also a former World Doubles Champion and won the World Cup three times with the All Ireland team.
Sports Editor for the Belfast Telegraph, Jim Gracey, described his talent as "mercurial".
He said: "I would have come across Alex a lot in recent years. He was an incredible figure. He was the George Best of the snooker table, both of them were from the same era and unfortunately both of them inflicted with the same problems.
"I think when the initial sadness passes over tonight and tomorrow, people will look back at Alex Higgins with a great deal of affection and remember the nights we sat and watched him winning world titles, the nights we sat watching him on television winning snooker matches the way no-one else could win them.
"I think people will look back at Alex Higgins with a smile on their face."
Greatest Players
Higgins was considered by many as one of the greatest players of the game.
Another former World Champion, Steve Davis, says he was truly unique:
"Even great players don't show emotion at the table, you don't know how they are feeling.
"With Alex Higgins you knew exactly and you lived the life with him at the snooker table. When he played a great shot, he responded to the crowd, when he played a bad one you could see he was upset. Fantastic".
Ulster Unionist councillor Bob Stoker said:"He's credited first of all for bringing snooker out of the back alleys and the small clubs onto the television and into real publicity.
"He's very highly thought of, not just in Northern Ireland but in snooker circles all over the world, but obviously two times world champion from Belfast and the Donegall Road here, we're all extremely proud of him."
Great Character
Friend and biographer Sean Boru says he was one of the great characters of the sport.
He said: "He was known as the Muhammad Ali of snooker because Muhammad Ali did for boxing what Alex did for snooker and it was the other way round, snooker didn't make Alex Higggins, Alex Higgins made snooker."
A controversial figure, Higgins was banned from five tournaments and fined £12,000 in 1986 when he headbutted UK Championship tournament director Paul Hatherell.
In 1990 Higgins threatened to have fellow player Dennis Taylor shot and he was banned for the rest of the season after he punched a tournament director at the World Championship.
But despite his numerous fights and rows with referees, he continued to play the game regularly and appeared at the Irish Professional Championship in 2005 and 2006.
He inspired a generation of players to take up the game, with his influence seen in the style of later crowd favourites such as Jimmy White and Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Higgins has been married twice and has a son and a daughter with his ex-wife Lynn.