Growth Strategies Conference

Speakers


	Colonel Tim Collins OBE

	Former Commander of the First Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment

Tim Collins was born in Belfast and was commissiones into the army in 1981 when he joined the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rangers in West Berlin. In 1998, after several tours of duy including Northern Ireland and the Falkland Islands, he volunteered for Special Air Service. He was appointed operations officer of 22 SAS for a 2 year tour before returning to the Royal Irish Regiment as a compnay commander. At 38 he was made Lientenant Colonel and trekked with the Gurkhas in Eastern Nepal before assuming command of the 1 Royal Irish in January 2001. On his return from the Second Gulf War, he found himself at the centre of allegatons of war crimes, but after clearing his name, he was promoted to Colonel.

He has been awareded the Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service on the Operational Honours and Awards Honours and Awards List and in 2003 he received an OBE for the liberation of Iraq.

Tim Collins retired from the army in August 2004 and now lives in Knet with his wife and children.