Serving sailors and former comrades of a Navy man who died helping to save the crew of a Spanish trawler held a special commemoration to remember him 30 years to the day of the tragedy.

When an “explosion of a storm” tore its way through the Fastnet yacht race off the Irish coast 40 years ago, there were those among the survivors who could not speak about the experience for years.

Jim Halligan was diagnosed with asbestosis 19 years ago. “It’s like living with a death sentence hanging over you,” he says. “If you get it, you have it for the rest of your life.”

EVEN though Roberta O’Brien grew up almost 100 kilometres from the nearest coastline, it hasn’t stopped the Tipperary native from making history with the Irish Naval Service.