Navy had to wait hours to recover body

An Irish naval service ship on Mediterranean rescue several years ago was unable to recover a dead migrant from the water for four hours because EU states refused to accept the body, a former mission member has said.

The crew of the LÉ Samuel Beckett stood by until the Maltese authorities agreed to allow the ship to land the body, Able Seaman Ian Trimble, a Naval Service diver, said.