Missing man was at home during lifeboat search

A MAJOR search and rescue operation was mounted on the Shannon Estuary late on Sunday night for a man who was later found safe and well at home, oblivious to the efforts under way to locate him.

A group of men from Kildysart, Co Clare, had travelled across the estuary earlier in the day to go socialising in Foynes in Limerick. They travelled in three separate boats on an annual social event.

The three craft left Foynes at around 8.30pm to return to Kildysart, However, only the two larger boats arrived on schedule.

After waiting for some time at Kildysart Pier for their friend, who was travelling in a smaller Zodiac RIB (rigid inflatable boat), and fearing that his craft had capsized, the others raised the alarm. It is understood that the “missing” man was almost an hour overdue at this stage.

The Kilrush RNLI lifeboat was alerted and launched shortly after 10.15pm and rescuers raced to the area near Cahercon, a few kilometres south-west of Kildysart, on the north shore of the estuary.

Local gardaí were also involved in the operation and combed the shoreline in search of the small boat. A local man reported seeing the missing man’s RIB at Loughannashinnagh pier and reported it to gardaí.

It is now understood that, after leaving Foynes, the missing man had taken a different route around Foynes Island using the shoreline as shelter. Conditions in the area were reported to be “choppy with a gathering breeze”.

Shortly before midnight, gardaí located the RIB at Lackannashinnagh, a short distance north of Kildysart, and soon afterwards confirmed that he had returned home. The man was safe but had not notified anyone of his return.