Search for missing swimmer off Galway coast heads into fourth day

A guard looks out on Galway Bay at Silverstrand beach where the search is going on for a woman missing in Galway Bay. Picture: Ray Ryan

The search for a missing swimmer off the coast of Galway will head into its fourth day on Friday.

The woman, aged in her 30s from Spiddal, was reported missing on Tuesday when she failed to show up for work.

The search was subsequently upgraded when her car was located at Silverstrand beach near Barna, about 7km west of Galway City.

Search efforts for the woman were hampered by heavy fog on Wednesday night, with rescue teams resuming operations in Galway Bay on Wednesday.

More than 250 volunteers joined rescue teams in the search along the shoreline on Wednesday, while a variety of crafts searched the water throughout the day.

The woman was one of two people to go missing while swimming off the same beach, on the same day.

The body of 74-year-old Limerick songwriter Johnny Duhan was recovered on Tuesday evening.

Gardaí said they are treating the two incidents separately but Supt Paudie O’Shea said yesterday that they are keeping an open mind on what happened.

“The sequence of events is still a puzzle to us,” he said.

“Both parties would have arrived here separately, and they would have been keen and avid visitors to this area, and they would have planned for a dip in the sea each morning.

“I wouldn't like to speculate, but it's quite unusual here in Silverstrand.

"Yesterday morning, the tide would have been out, so you can actually go out a good distance before you reach water.

“The fog was descended, so it's a possibility that they got disorientated within that because even here yesterday evening, the fog was lifting and dropping within seconds. So even today, I'm told if you go out a mile, a mile and a half, it's clear. The fog is hugging the coastline here. So, again, it's just the nature, what was happening here yesterday morning was quite unique.”

Supt O’Shea also paid tribute to all the agencies and the individual volunteers who participated in the search.

Mr Duhan will be laid to rest following a funeral mass in New Inn, Co Galway on Friday.

He is survived by his wife Maureen and five children Ronan, Niamh, Kevin, Ailbhe and Brian, ten grandchildren, four sisters and three brothers, along with a large cohort of music fans.

Mr Duhan wrote songs for artists such as The Dubliners, Christy Moore, Mary Black and Dolores Keane among others. He also wrote 'The Voyage' which was made famous by Christy Moore.