Lifejackets would have saved anglers’ lives

Two anglers who drowned after falling overboard from a rib near Helvick Head in Waterford in May 2010 would “probably” have been saved if they were wearing lifejackets.

John O’Brien and Pat Esmonde left Helvick Pier in Waterford on May 23, 2010, in a small rib to go angling close to Helvick Head.

The alarm was raised when their boat was seen drifting and empty with one man close by in the water. Both men were lost overboard and their bodies recovered two days later.