NAVY SERVICEMEN endured pouring rain to form a guard of honour for Capt Jim Robinson, second in command of the Navy, who stood down yesterday.
During his 36-year career with the Navy, he served as commander on four ships, culminating in his command of LE Eithne from January 1998 to August 2000.
As a young officer, he co-ordinated the recovery operation after the Air India crash in 1985 for which he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
Capt Robinson was in fact first to reach the scene of the disaster as LE Aisling patrolled Atlantic waters 100 miles off the southwest coast.
On June 23rd, 1985, the aircraft was blown up in midair by a bomb in the deadliest terrorist attack involving an aircraft to that date. Some 329 people perished in the crash, among them 280 Canadians and 22 Indian nationals.
“I was stunned by the reaction of the crew at the time, they were able to do extraordinary things. It just goes to show, as I have experienced throughout my time in the Navy, that the average kid will do wonders if you ask him,” he said.
Capt Robinson oversaw the doubling of Irish Naval patrols in territorial waters from 2000 to 2005, under new arrangements drawn up by the United Nations Law of the Sea treaties.
He also served in the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation in South Lebanon and the Sinai Desert and Cairo from 1988 to 1990.