Memorial a tribute to late fishery officers
Four fishery officers drowned off the east Cork town of Ballycotton while on duty 20 years ago tomorrow.
The men who died in the accident will be commemorated at the unveiling of a memorial at the Port of Cork ferry terminal in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork on Sunday.
Barry O’Driscoll, 43, from Bandon, Co Cork; Barra O Longaigh, 28, from Douglas; Dominic Meehan, 42, from Gurranabraher and Benno Haussmann, 55, from Bishopstown, set out in poor weather conditions from Ringaskiddy at 7am on July 7, 1990 in a 15-foot launch, the Setanta, bound for Ballycotton. Also on board was Michael Fanning, 26, from Fermoy.
They later found a monofilament net and began hauling it on board. They had about 400 yards of it on board when they lost one of their engines.
The men had just turned the stern of their boat into the wind when a wave came over the stern and flooded the engines. It was 9.30am.
The five officers were forced to jump into the water. Their boat sank in seconds.
They shouted and blew whistles as a trawler passed within 150 yards (about 140m) of them but the fishermen didn’t hear them.
They stayed in the water for up to 45 minutes before Mr Fanning decided to try and swim for Ballycotton lighthouse.
He was picked up almost four hours later but before reaching the lighthouse, and survived. His four colleagues drowned.
Mr Haussmann, who was the assistant inspector for the Bandon area, left behind his wife, Cecelia, and their children Roland, Helga, Karin, Erica, Sonia and Marion.
His son, Ronald, said: “They made the ultimate sacrifice. They went out to work and they didn’t come home.”
“Though it’s now 20 years ago it really doesn’t seem that long ago. It’s nice too to see they are being remembered by their own, their colleagues.”
Mr O’Driscoll, who was single, had worked with the fisheries board for 10 years.
Mr Longaigh, a twin, was an inspector for the Cork city area. He had married his wife, Mary, just two years earlier.
Mr Meehan, who had joined the fisheries board just seven weeks earlier, left behind his wife, Eileen, two sons and two daughters.
Their colleague, Tom O’Riordan, a fisheries inspector, organised the memorial along with his colleague, Sean Cremin.
“We wanted to organise this for the 20th anniversary to show the families that they haven’t been forgotten,” he said.
“It could easily have been me or any of my other colleagues that morning.”
The 11-foot bronze statue, created by artist Vincent O’Shea, depicts a boat on a wave with four teardrops pouring from its side – representing the tears of the victims’ families.
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