Man loses life after getting into difficulty while diving

A man was died after he got into difficulty while diving off the coast of Ardmore in Co Waterford.

Lifeboats from Youghal and Helvick Head responded to the scene at McKenna’s Castle near Ardmore yesterday evening.

It is understood two men were diving in the area and got into difficulties.

A spokesman for RNLI Helvick Head said that one of the men managed to swim ashore and raise the alarm, giving an exact location to the emergency services, which allowed for a swifter response from those attending the scene.

The alarm was raised at 4.05pm and a crew from Youghal Lifeboat, which was first on the scene, took the other man from the water.

The crew from Helvick Head arrived very shortly afterwards and brought down the winchman from the Coast Guard 117 rescue helicopter, before transferring him to the Youghal lifeboat, from where both the winchman and the diver were taken up into the helicopter.

The man, who was in full wetsuit and flippers when he was taken from the sea, was airlifted to University Hospital Waterford by 5.09pm.

It is understood he was non-responsive when taken from the water.

Gardaí later confirmed that the man, in his late 30s, had passed away.

The spokesman for Helvick Head lifeboat said it was understood the two men had begun diving earlier in the day from nearby Whiting Bay, a well-known diving and surfing spot.

Elsewhere, two people died in separate drowning incidents in Galway over the weekend.

A man aged 19 died after he got into difficulties while swimming in the River Corrib on Saturday afternoon. Following a search led by the Shannon-based 115 rescue helicopter, he was brought ashore and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Also on Saturday, the body of a woman was found in Galway Harbour. She had earlier been spotted by a passer-by.