Relatives and friends pray for the crew.

MARION COLLINS — one of the army of local volunteers who doled out soup and sandwiches to search teams — knows more than most the perils involved for those trying to eke out a living from the sea.

At the pier in Union Hall yesterday she and her colleagues rushed around ensuring every person involved in the search for the missing crewmen had something hot to drink and nutritious to eat.

Her late father, John Burns, was the skipper on a trawler which capsized years ago in roughly the same area that the Tit Bonhomme went down.

“I had two uncles and cousins onboard as well. Luckily they were all saved,’’ Marion said.

She knew the Tit Bonhomme’s skipper, Michael Hayes, 52, very well, especially from her time as landlady of the popular Dinty’s Bar in Union Hall, which she ran for many years until leasing it out in recent times.

“He used to love a steak and he liked his G&T and a glass of red wine. He worked very hard. He was a lovely person. He was fishing out of here for nine years and he had over 30 years experience,’’ said Ms Collins.

Her friend, Catherine Limerick, accompanied her on the rounds of the search headquarters at Union Hall pier, along with a small army of men and women who had come to help from as far away as Bantry and Cork.

“I have lots of relatives who are fishermen. We are just being available for doing what we have to do,’’ said Ms Limerick.

She said that just weeks ago another vessel went down in the same area and “thank God’’ the three on board had been rescued.

Inspector Brendan Fogerty, who visited the scene, recalled seeing similar volunteer spirit a couple of years ago when the men and women of Kilbrittain rallied to feed — for free — the hundreds who searched for the body of local murder victim Ann Corcoran.

He said the spirit of people in the region was second to none.

This was epitomised in the main “serving tent” by Pamela Deasy, a member of the local RNLI who was doling out the soup as though there was no tomorrow.

She said that people were bringing in food from everywhere, but they were short of disposable cups. The word went out and “a friend went to Musgraves in Cork”, paid for them and brought them down.

Fr Pierce Cormack, who is from Union Hall and works as a pastor to the emergency hospital services, said he was proud of the way local people had rallied round to help. He said free provisions had not just been donated by them but from the local Fuller’s Foodstore and outlets in Leap and Skibbereen.

Local vessel owners were not sparing on diesel as they scoured the bay for the missing crew members, he said.

“Not in living memory has anything like this happened here, but people are acutely aware of the potential for tragedy. There is unbelievable generosity.”

Gardaí appointed liaison officers to look after distraught relatives and on top of providing food the people of Glandore and Union Hall also provided accommodation for relatives to stay on while the search continues.

Family support

THE International Transport Workers Federation has offered its support to the families of the fishermen who perished on the Tit Bonhomme.

“Our sympathy goes out to the families after yet another tragedy at sea,” said Ken Fleming, ITF co-ordinator for Britain and Ireland.

“There will a time for a detailed investigation of the circumstances, but for the moment the priority must be to assist the families, particularly of the vulnerable Egyptian seafarers.

“I would therefore ask them to contact me directly at 00 353 87 260 5297 or [e-mail]. We can also put them in touch with our Egyptian affiliate who can assist them at home. In recent years, the ITF has raised the issue of how many foreign nationals are working illegally on Irish fishing vessels, though it has stressed there is no evidence of illegality in this case.”

In 2010, following the death of an Egyptian fisherman here, the ITF said it had found that boat-owners were bringing foreign nationals to Ireland to avoid paying proper wages and their tax liabilities to the state.

Mr Fleming said the presence of many of the foreign nationals was a health and safety concern as they did not always have basic English and could understand when important commands were given at sea.

— Stephen Rogers