Craig Dobbin: With the passing of Craig Laurence Dobbin in St John's, Newfoundland, Ireland has lost one of its greatest friends in Canada. Craig Dobbin was born on September 13th, 1935, in St John's, one of 11 children to Rita and Paddy Dobbin, who were of Irish stock in a part of the world where the Irish comprise 40 per cent of the population.
The Irish for Newfoundland is talamh an éisc, Land of the Fish, and it was the fisher folk from the south-east of Ireland who settled there in the pre-Famine era, mostly in the late 1700s. They all still hold on to their distinctive Waterford accent and humour, as did Dobbin.
He started out his career as a diver, but moved swiftly through several businesses with increasing success until one day, together with his great friend, the then premier of Newfoundland & Labrador, Frank Moores, he decided to buy a helicopter to enable them to go fishing in the remote areas of that beautiful province. A great entrepreneur and risk-taker, he rented out the helicopter when not fishing, and developed the business so that his company, CHC Helicopter Corporation, of which he owned 62 per cent of the equity, is now the largest helicopter airline in the world. Some 350 helicopters operate in 35 countries, mostly servicing the offshore oil and gas industry and the marine search-and- rescue operations in a number of countries, including the Irish Coast Guard.
The guests at his fishing lodges would constitute a who's who of the Canadian and US business worlds, including his friend, former US president George Bush. Thus from modest beginnings, he built an industrial empire and was one of the global aviation industry's most successful and colourful figures.
He was a regular visitor to Ireland and in 1993, Dobbin and his wife Elaine were guests at a dinner hosted by Canadian ambassador Michael Wadsworth and his wife Bernie in their residence in Dalkey.
At that dinner he met Dr Patrick Hillery, who had recently retired as President of Ireland, and Prof John Kelly, then registrar of University College Dublin. That meeting resulted in Dobbin, through his company CHC, funding the Craig Dobbin Chair of Canadian Studies in UCD, and the establishment of the Ireland Canada University Foundation, chaired jointly by Dr Hillery and Craig Dobbin, which annually awards scholarships to Irish and Canadian scholars who promote co-operation in research and the academic world between the two countries.
The foundation's programme was formally endorsed by the two countries by the signing of a memorandum of understanding witnessed by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Canadian prime minister Paul Martin in Ottawa in 2004. Craig earlier had been appointed consul general for Ireland in Newfoundland & Labrador.
His home in Beachy Cove near St John's became the centre for Irish life in the province and the venue for many meetings with Irish business people and politicians, including Mr Ahern and former taoiseach John Bruton. It is a magnificent venue on the rugged cliff-edged coastline, with icebergs and the occasional whale passing by.
Dobbin has been the recipient of many honours over the years, including the Order of Canada, the Atlantic Canada Entrepreneur of the Year, the Newfoundland Businessman of the Millennium, the Medaille de l'Aeronatique by the government of France, Freeman of the City of Waterford and a number of honorary doctorates from universities, including an LLD from the National University of Ireland in 1995.
Through all of this, Dobbin was one of nature's greatest personalities - larger than life and always full of new ideas down to his final hours. He was enormously generous of spirit and possessions; he gave major support to a host of charities over the years and never once looked for recognition, though he often got it. He loved Newfoundland and he loved Ireland, and he will be greatly missed by many on both sides of the Atlantic, which he crossed so many times.
He will be remembered as the laughing buccaneer of the tough aviation world, greatly loved and respected by friend and foe alike. He tackled all challenges with a passion and usually came away smiling. Even on his deathbed, he confronted his doctor, demanding to know what the deal was. "What's the deal, Doc, have I one day or three, tell me, I'd like to know." Sadly he had just the one and, having said goodbye to his wife Elaine and his children David, Mark, Joanne, Craig and Carolyn and his many grandchildren, he quietly went to sleep.
Craig Dobbin: born September 13th, 1935; died October 7th, 2006