Bells toll for Fastnet victims

BENEATH grey leaden skies, 15 bells tolled yesterday in memory of each of the sailors who perished in the Fastnet Race tragedy 25 years ago.

“Going Home”, a lament by lone piper, leading seaman John McGarry, was drowned out by unfavourable weather elements and the drone of engines from a flotilla of boats that accompanied the Navel vessel LE Emer at a designated memorial site off West Cork.

In the presence of survivors and some of the men who performed heroic rescue deeds during the infamous tragedy, a wreath was laid on waters just outside Cape Clear Harbour. The LE Emer represented the Naval Service in the remembrance event where the now decommissioned LE Deirdre played a pivotal rescue role in 1979.