A TRAWLER that sank with the loss of five crew members almost two years ago had a heavier load than ever before at the time of the tragedy, according to an investigation.

A SPLENDID four-year-old gelding, Woodfield Indy, won the ridden hunter championship at the 92nd Dungarvan Show for Rosemary Connors, Woodstown, Co Waterford.

Relatives of the five men who lost their lives in the sinking of the Pere Charles are marking the first anniversary of the deaths today.

AN examination of the interior of sunken trawler the Pere Charles is expected to take place today.

RELATIVES of the men who drowned on the Pere Charles last night spoke of their shock at the extent of the damage sustained by the trawler after it was finally raised from the sea-bed.

THE lifting of the Pere Charles marked the culmination of a struggle which began on January 10 for the families of crewmen Andriy Dyrin, 32, Billy O’Connor, 52, Tom Hennessy, 30, Pat Hennessy, 48, and Pat Coady, 27, when the trawler sank while on its way back from a successful day’s fishing in the Celtic Sea.

FAMILIES of the men lost aboard the Pere Charles last January have been forced to endure another anxious night after bad weather delayed the salvage operation to raise the trawler from the sea-bed.

Divers were today resuming attempts to raise the Pere Charles trawler after bad weather suspended operations overnight.

IF THE Pere Charles had returned safely to harbour in Dunmore East on that fateful night it sank, its skipper Tom Hennessy would be married to his fiancée Louise Doyle.

RELATIVES of the five fishermen lost when the Pere Charles sank in January are hoping that today will finally give them the answers they want about their loved ones.

THE family of a fisherman who drowned off the south-east coast have severely criticised the Government for the 21-month delay in raising the doomed boat which sank last year.

A Dutch barge is due in Waterford shortly to begin the operation to raise the wreck of the sunken trawler the Pere Charles.

The wreck of the sunken trawler, the Pere Charles, is expected to be raised from the seabed today.

A CRANE barge needed to lift two fishing trawlers sunk off the south-east coast must be re-rigged in Holland before it can assist in the salvage operation, it emerged yesterday.

THE wrecks of two trawlers lying off the south-east coast are expected to be brought to Arklow harbour early next month.

THE brother of the skipper of the Pere Charles trawler — which sank off the southeast coast earlier this year and lies on the seabed — yesterday said the Government needs to educate itself about search and salvage procedures.

HOPES are high that the wrecks of two trawlers lying on the seabed off the south-east coast will be raised to the surface in September.

THE wives of two fishermen who drowned when their trawler went down off the south coast in early January laid anchor-shaped floral wreaths at a poignant seamen’s memorial in Kinsale, Co Cork yesterday.

FAMILY of the five fishermen lost off the Dunmore East coast in January have launched a petition in a bid to get the stricken trawler, the Pere Charles, raised.

WREATHS will be laid at sea next month on the sites of a double trawler tragedy as part of a massive cross-channel fundraiser.

VINTAGE car owners rallied yesterday to raise over €10,000 for the families of the Pere Charles and Honeydew 11 trawler victims.

DIVE crews were due to enter the wreck of the Honeydew II again this morning to search parts of the galley and hold for signs of the its two missing crew members.

THE Department of Transport has not ruled out the possibility of raising the wreck of the Pere Charles from the seabed in an attempt to find out how it sank and what happened to its five crew men.

ALL day they gathered in Dunmore East’s meeting points.

ANOTHER attempt to recover the bodies of five fishermen missing off the Co Waterford coast is likely to be made today, as weather conditions grow calmer.

THE children of two fishermen lost at sea attended special Masses over the weekend in preparation for their Confirmations.

The tragic events of the last 10 days have left the southern coastal community plumbing the depths of grief, loneliness and despair. Caroline O’Doherty explains why fishing is a riskier business than ever.

COASTAL communities had raised €17,000 by last night to help those affected by the sinking of doomed Kinsale trawler, the Honeydew II.

NAVY divers have been placed on alert for a possible return to Hook Head next Wednesday for a fresh attempt to recover the bodies of five fishermen missing since the Pere Charles sank 10 days ago.

A special fund has been set up to raise money for the families of the five fishermen lost at sea following the sinking of the Pere Charles off the coast of Co Wexford last week.

DIVERS yesterday located the Pere Charles but near-zero visibility meant they were unable to see if the five crewmen were inside the stricken trawler.

“THE longest days of our lives,” is how a sister of missing fisherman Pat Coady has described the time since 6pm last Wednesday, when the herring boat Pere Charles sank near Hook Head, taking five crewmen with it.

Naval divers are searching the wreck of the trawler, Pere Charles, which sank six days ago in a bid to recover the bodies of the five missing crewmen.

TWO empty, lightweight sea-craft lie moored to the harbour wall at Dunmore East, visible to all the locals who gather intermittently at the top of the street to look over the harbour and wonder when the bodies of the Pere Charles crew will be returned to the village.

ROUGH sea conditions off the Co Waterford coast once again prevented the bodies of five fishermen being recovered yesterday from their sunken trawler.

FAMILY members from two fishing tragedies along the south coast were united yesterday in their grief.

THE coastal communities devastated after two trawlers sank without trace off the south coast united in prayer yesterday as the search continued for a second day.

THE search for the five fishermen who were on board the Pere Charles is now concentrated on an area of sea about two miles off Hook Head.

THE vigil continued on the pierside from first light.

THE Pere Charles, a 25-year-old 20-metre herring boat set off from the harbour at Dunmore East in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The former national sales manager for Advance Tyres has gone on trial charged with conspiring to defraud the State over a contract to supply tyres to An Garda Síochana.

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