Honours for men who drowned during rescue

THE bravery of two men who drowned while trying to rescue two swimmers in west Cork last year was recalled yesterday when they were posthumously honoured by the state organisation with responsibility for promoting water safety.

The efforts of Peter O’Keeffe, 36, and Jonathan Herlihy, 23, were recognised at the annual national awards ceremony hosted by Irish Water Safety.

A total of 23 recipients were involved in 13 separate near-drowning incidents during 2006 which resulted in 14 lives being saved.

The awards were presented by junior environment minister Tony Killeen at a ceremony in Dublin Castle.

Mr O’Keeffe and Mr Herlihy drowned after going to the assistance of two swimmers in difficulty off Owenahincha Strand on September 3, 2006. The men, who did not know each other, were on the beach when they responded to cries for help. While the couple were rescued, Mr O’Keeffe and Mr Herlihy were swept out to sea.

Yesterday, Peter’s sisters, Shirley and Yvonne O’Keeffe, and Jonathan’s brother, Chris Herlihy, accepted the Seiko Just In Time awards on behalf of their families.

Shirley O’Keeffe said: “It’s very nice to get the recognition for the deeds they did. They weren’t just heroes in our eyes. They were heroes in everybody’s eyes.”

Mr Herlihy revealed that almost €50,000 had been collected for a fund set up in his brother’s name to provide a rescue boat and lifesaving training for the Owenahincha area.

Last May, both Mr Herlihy and Mr O’Keeffe were posthumously awarded gold medals for bravery at a ceremony in Leinster House.

Recipients of awards yesterday included naval officer John Murphy, who rescued a girl from the River Lee. Eight gardaí won awards — Declan Dennehy, JJ Synott, James Maher, Eric O’Sullivan, John O’Flynn, Matt Kelly, Robert Shirley and Linda McManus — as did four fire brigade officers — Brian Cosgrove, Paul Duffy, Gerry Bowden and Martin Dunphy. Other recipients were Narayan Toolan, Ryan Kearney, David Faulkner, Gavin Fitzgerald, Connie Linehan, Billy Linehan, Patrick O’Keeffe and Rachel Lee.