Two kayakers drown in Waterford

A community was in shock today after the deaths of two men in a kayaking accident.

The men got into difficulties on the River Clodagh in Portlaw, Co Waterford, at around 9pm last night.

Local rescue teams recovered the first kayaker’s body about an hour later.

The second man’s body was taken from the water at around 11.30pm.

It is understood the pair, believed to be from Counties Tipperary and Cavan, drowned after getting trapped in a weir of the river - a tributary of the River Suir.

The bodies were taken to Waterford Regional Hospital, where a post-mortem was due to take place.

The Coast Guard helicopter also assisted in the search operation.

Michael Hickey, of Carrick On Suir river rescue, said the dead men were in a group of three people in separate canoes on the river at the time.

The third man managed to make it on to the banks of the river and raise the alarm at around 9pm when it would have been getting dark.

Mr Hickey said a walled fish path and weir next to an old factory at the point where the kayakers got into trouble were a “deadly combination” for water-users.

“Even experience wouldn’t do much good in this situation,” he said. “It’s a deadly combination of a weir with a fish path just below it.”

Philip McCormack, of Waterford’s 180 Kayak Club, said local clubs would not use the weir.

“It’s not a weir that you would want to go into unless you had lots of rescue cover,” the canoeist said.