Search to resume for man swept out to sea while fishing
The man had travelled from Nenagh in Co Tipperary with friends and had been fishing from rocks at Ross Bay just north of the Bridges of Ross on the northern shore of the Loop Head Peninsula. The missing man’s friends contacted the emergency services and attempted to rescue him by throwing a lifebuoy to him. The man was however washed out in the current and out of sight of his shocked friends. The crew of the RNLI lifeboat from Kilrush was able to respond within seconds after they were alerted in the middle of a “blessing of the boats” ceremony they had been attending. Fr Michael Collins, who is also a member of the Kilrush lifeboat crew, had to abruptly abandon the annual event after crew members’ pagers rang out during the blessing.
Kilkee Marine Rescue Service and the Kilkee unit of the Irish Coast Guard (ICG) sent water and land based teams to the area. The Fenit lifeboat and the Shannon based ICG helicopter were also scrambled to assist in the search while several local boats also helped in the operation which was coordinated by the ICG Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) at Valentia Island in Co Kerry.
