Heartbreak and relief as last sailor found

The grieving father of the final crewman to be recovered following the sinking of the trawler Tit Bonhomme was “heartbroken but relieved” after his son’s body was brought ashore yesterday.

“He was my son, I loved him so much. This has been a nightmare for our family,” said Mohammed Ibraham, father of Saied Aly Eldin.

He had maintained a vigil at the pier at Union Hall in Co Cork since arriving hours after the vessel sank in stormy water on January 15.

“We will never forget the people who have helped us through this,” he said, thanking the people of Union Hall for their tireless efforts and for their refusal to give up on finding his son.

Local volunteers Bob Cooke, Eamonn Barry, Karl Wycherly and John Kearney were on board a Bord Iascaigh Mhara inflatable vessel when they spotted Saied’s body near Long Point on the west side of Glandore Bay at 12.45pm.

After getting assistance from the Toe Head coast guard the remains were brought to Union Hall pier.

Saied’s exhausted and emotional parents identified his remains in a makeshift morgue on the pier. Their haunted expressions were evidence of the suffering they endured over the past month.

Poignant scenes followed as the Egyptian community lined up to pray behind the hearse carrying Saied’s remains, which were taken to Cork University Hospital, where a post-mortem will be carried out today.

“Every day without him just got harder, waiting and hoping to find him,” said Mohammed Ibraham, who is also a fisherman.

The bodies of two other Egyptians, Attia Shaban, 26, and father-of-two Wael Mohamad, were found in the first week of the search.

The bodies were repatriated to the village of Borg Meghezel, while the youngest victim, Kevin Kershaw, 21, was laid to rest in Dublin.

Muslim religious leader Morad Gharib said it was wonderful that all five men had been recovered.

“This will leave its mark on the Egyptian community here, but the level of help and support we received will go down in history,” he said.

Coastguard co-ordinator Gerard O’Flynn said there were mixed emotions on the pier “of great sadness” but also the knowledge that “closure had come to all the families” who had lost relatives in the tragedy.

Meanwhile, at Helvic Head in Waterford, huge crowds turned out to pay respects to the vessel’s skipper, Michael Hayes, 52, whose body was recovered on Wednesday. The Hayes family had vowed to continue searching until the last body was found.

His body was lying in repose at his home yesterday.

Mr Hayes will be buried after requiem Mass at 12pm today.