Father of 3 still missing in fishing trip tragedy

Hopes are fading that a missing father-of-three will be found alive after a fishing trip in Lough Ree turned to tragedy, claiming the life of his friend and leaving another man fighting for survival.

Family and friends gathered on the wind-battered shore of the lake in Co Westmeath yesterday as rescue teams battled wet and blustery conditions to locate one of the anglers who remains lost.

He is understood to be a married man from Portadown, Co Armagh, whose wife is expecting their fourth child. A second man from Armagh — named locally as David Warnock, 27 — died after being pulled ashore at Hodson Bay harbour on the lake yesterday.