Fishing boat finds bodies of two missing fishermen

The bodies of two fishermen, missing off the Co Dublin coast, have been found.

The remains were recovered in the fishing gear of a vessel, the Guiding Light, five miles east of Clogherhead overnight.

The men, Ronan Browne and David Gilsenan who were in their 20's and 30's and were both married, went missing last Friday.

Their boat was found empty off the Skerries coast after they had gone lobster pot fishing.

The bodies were brought to shore at around 2.30am this morning and were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, Co Louth.

RNLI Operations Officer David McMyler confirmed the bodies were brought ashore after they were found at around 2am and were subsequently identified as being those of the missing men.

“On behalf of the Minister of Agriculture and Marine I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to members of the Browne and Gilsenan families,” he said.

The bodies were found approximately six miles off Clogherhead in Co Louth.

The crew of the Clogherhead lifeboat and members of the naval vessel LE Ciara assisted the crew members in the recovery, before the bodies were taken to Port Oreal and handed over to gardaí at around 3am.

Rescue crews believe their 17ft open-top fishing boat capsized in bad weather off the Skerries Islands before drifting north in high winds and swells.

Mr Browne lived in Skerries with his wife of six months, Linda.

Mr Gilsenan and his wife Suzanne have two young children, aged six and nine, and live in the nearby village of Rush.

Both were qualified marine engineers and experienced fishermen.

Mr Browne’s boat – Lady Linda – was located overturned five miles south-east of Clogherhead last Saturday – 12 miles north from where the men had been fishing - with a set of oil skins washed up on a beach near Gormanstown the next day.

Since then devastated family members and friends carried out a painstaking coastal land search for the missing men, combing inlets and bays.

The navy had also been co-ordinating the major operation at sea to retrieve the pair.

Scores of pleasure and fishing craft and diving clubs from across the country were due to join coast guard and RNLI crews along the east coast this weekend.

More than 80,000 euro was raised in two days to support the search for the two fishermen and pay for fuel for local vessels, with thousands more raised by schools, shops and people in coastal communities across north Dublin.

Skerries Chamber of Commerce said €6,000 has been donated in fuel, with almost €75,000 raised at a coffee day and a charity walk of solidarity.