'Much-loved' fisherman who died on boat off Cork coast named
Desmond Hurley. Picture: RIP.ie
A fisherman has died following an incident on Thursday on board a trawler 200km off the south west coast of Cork.
He has been named locally as Desmond 'Des' Hurley, who was from Kinsale.
Mr Hurley is understood to have lost his balance in what were at the time poor weather conditions in the early hours of the morning.
The alarm was raised when the fisherman was discovered unconscious.
An Irish Coast Guard helicopter was on its way to the trawler when Valentia Coast Guard were informed he had died.
Mr Hurley is survived by his parents Jimmy and Noreen, siblings Chris, Mark, Jemma and Vikki, his partner Larissa. He is predeceased by his nephew, Robbie.
His death notice read that he would "sadly missed" by his family, neighbours and "his large circle of friends especially in the fishing community".
Mr Hurley will be lying in repose at Gabriel and O’Donovan’s Funeral Home, Kinsale on Sunday from 5pm followed by prayers at 7pm.
His funeral will take place at St. John the Baptist Church, Kinsale at 11am on Monday.
Irish South and West Fish Producers Organisation CEO Patrick Murphy said on Thursday that the industry is reeling from this news.
“The man involved was a well-respected and much-loved member of our community.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, who have been involved in the industry in Cork for years and are themselves very well respected.
“One of the hardest things in our industry is having to break this kind of news to families and friends of colleagues who perish at sea.”
Mr Murphy said that the fisherman's family have asked for privacy so the family can deal with "this horrific incident".
"They are asking for privacy to grieve as they try and come to terms with what has happened, and so they can try and process it," he said.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport confirmed that the Coast Guard liaised with the crew on board the vessel overnight.
"A crew member fell onboard a vessel shortly after 12.30am today about 100 nautical miles west of the Blasket Islands," he said.
"The Coast Guard liaised with the vessel.
"The crew member was given CPR at the scene, with assistance from Medico Cork via ship’s satellite radio communication system, but tragically to no avail.
"An Garda Síochána were then informed of the incident and the vessel is returning to port."
Meanwhile, the body of a fisherman who was missing off Co Louth coast following the sinking of a razor clam vessel earlier this week was recovered on Thursday
A search was launched shortly after 8.45am on December 12 when emergency services received a Mayday call from a fishing vessel Ben Thomas which was in difficulty and taking on water.
A second fisherman, who was rescued after the incident north of Dunany Point in Dundalk Bay, was treated at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda and later discharged.
The Dublin based Coast Guard helicopter R116, Clogherhead, Greenore and Drogheda Coast Guard Units, Clogherhead RNLI Lifeboat, divers from An Garda Siochana, the Irish Lights vessel Granuaile and a number of local vessels assisted in the three-day search for the missing crewman.
The fishing charity LAST (Lost at Sea Tragedies) had requested the assistance of marine survey specialists, Statkraft Ireland, which deployed its survey vessel Ros Aine, which is equipped with multi-beam sonar to help survey the search area to locate the sunken vessel.
The sunken vessel was located in shallow water near its last reported position off Dunany Point and Naval Service divers recovered the body nearby a short time later.
Arrangements are being made for the repatriation of the man's remains to Egypt.
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