Hunt For Donegal Fisherman Resumes

The search for the nephew of a fisherman already found drowned off Co Donegal yesterday has resumed this morning.

RNLI Lifeboat crews from Lough Swilly in Donegal and Portrush in Co Antrim, assisted by the Coastguard helicopter and local fishing vessels are hunting for fisherman Robert McLaughlin, who went missing yesterday while off the Malin Head coast.

His 65-year-old uncle Edward Doherty's body was recovered from the sea after their boat ran aground on rocks near the Glengad area.

Both men, believed to be experienced fishermen, had left Portaleen pier early yesterday morning in thier 26-foot trawler, named 'The Jennifer'. They two men are from Ross Head near Malin Head.

The wreckage of 'The Jennifer' fishing boat was located yesterday in about 30 metres of water and it was towed ashore last night for further examination.

Weather conditions had deteriortated rapidly last night despite being reported to be good at the time. However, a gale warning has since been issued and heavy swells and poor visibility have hindered search efforts.

The alarm was raised at around 10.45am on Monday when another fisherman saw a body in the sea.

Today's recovery attempt follows another incident last weekend when two young fishermen were found in a liferaft 13 miles north of Belderrig, Co Mayo.

According to the RNLI, their fishing vessel had capsized and, being unable to raise the alarm, the two men spent 10 hours at sea in a liferaft waiting for help.

A Ballyglass lifeboat crew member raised the alarm when the pair had not returned to shore on Saturday night.

The rescue crews headed to the area where the fishermen were understood to be recovering pots from the water. The helicopter crew spotted the liferaft with the two men onboard and communicated the position to the lifeboat, which was nearby.

The men had managed to remove their wet clothes and had put on plastic sacks to keep warm. They were recovered onto the lifeboat and taken to Ballyglass to recover.

Lifeboat Coxswain JT Gaughran said: "These two young men were extremely lucky.

"There had been nobody out searching for them until our crew member, John Walsh, who is an experienced fisherman, raised the alarm.

"Things can go wrong very quickly out at sea and every second counts. Thankfully, conditions were moderate and once the search was underway they were spotted quickly."

(DW)