Boy, 13, drowns after getting into difficulty in river swim

A TEENAGE boy drowned in the River Suir yesterday, while the body of an unidentified man was recovered from the River Blackwater near Fermoy.

Named locally as Dean Byrne, from Cashel in Co Tipperary, the 13-year-old boy was with two friends on the river outside the town when he got into trouble and was swept away by the current.

Despite a major search operation by the local emergency services and the rescue helicopter based in Waterford — whose crew found the boy when they got to the scene — he was pronounced dead after being brought to Waterford Regional Hospital.

His parents, Liam and Shirley Byrne, from Oliver Plunkett Park in Cashel, were last night being comforted by relatives and friends. “They’re a very respectable family, very well-known in the area and this is a terrible tragedy,” said a local man.

Dean’s grandfather, Eddie Ryan, is an ambulance driver and also widely known and respected in the town and beyond.

It’s understood Dean had just finished first year at Cashel Community School.

After Dean was found in the water, CPR was administered by the Coast Guard crew while they brought him by helicopter to Waterford — but to no avail.

Many local people gathered at the scene, along with emergency personnel, and after the boy was found it was initially hoped he could be saved. “They thought he was found in time, but he wasn’t,” one local man said.

The incident happened after 4pm as the friends were enjoying the sunny weather in the river in an area known as Castle Lake, about three miles from the centre of Cashel. Once it became clear Dean was in difficulty, his friends raised the alarm and the air ambulance service in Wexford notified the Coast Guard.

Meanwhile the body of a man was recovered from the River Blackwater near Fermoy, Co Cork yesterday.

The man, whom gardaí say was in his late 40s or early 50s, is believed to be a foreign national.

The body was spotted by a stroller along the Barnane Walk, a riverside track on the Mallow side of Fermoy near the rowing club. The man was described as 5’10” with sallow skin. He was seen talking with other foreign nationals in Fermoy earlier yesterday. Anyone with information or who may be able to identify him is asked to contact Fermoy Garda Station on 025-82100 or any Garda station.