Troubled waters: fight for survival as tide turns on 14,000 fishing families

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.

IT’S not the sound of crashing waves, howling gales or creaking timbers that fishing communities fear most. It is the sound of silence.

Nothing is more devastating than the radio call that goes unanswered, the mobile phone that does not ring or the emergency beacon that refuses to bleep.