Hopes remain high of finding men’s bodies

THERE were high hopes in Union Hall that the bodies of five men who have been missing since Sunday morning would be recovered from the wreckage of the Tit Bonhomme which is lodged in a rocky gully in the mouth of Glandore Bay.

The Tit Bonhomme, which was skippered by Michael Hayes from Helvic Head in Co Waterford, was returning to its home port of Union Hall at around 6am in strong force 7-8 south-easterly winds when it ran aground near Adam’s rock. Mr Hayes, who is in his early 50s, and the other crew members, Egyptians Saied Aly Eldin, 23, Wael Mohamad, 35, and Attia Shaban, 26, had been joined on the trip by a young man, Kevin Kershaw, 21.

The search for the men had been hampered by bad weather, and high swells at sea had kept navy and Garda divers from reaching the trawler, but on the fourth day things looked up.