The bodies of two fishermen who have been missing for over a week have been recovered off the Irish coast.
Ronan Browne (26) and David Gilsenan (41) went missing last Friday when fishing for lobster off Skerries, north Dublin.
After extensive efforts to find the men, it was confirmed today that a vessel had discovered their bodies trapped in their fishing gear.
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.
Minister for the Marine Simon Coveney conveyed his deepest sympathies to the families of the two fishermen today.
Mr Coveney told The Irish Times that this would be a "very very difficult day" for the Browne and Gilsenan families, who he had visited during the week.
"It is an incredibly difficult time, and not knowing is nearly worse than hearing bad news," he said. His own family endured a search after his father and former marine minister Hugh Coveney died in a cliff accident in March 1998.
"I'd like to express sincere sympathies,"Mr Coveney said, speaking from Cork.
"In some ways, this will help them to find some element of closure as now they will be able to grieve, but they have been experiencing a terrible ordeal."
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 coastal land search for the missing men, combing inlets and bays. The Irish 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 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 euro raised at a coffee day and a charity walk of solidarity.
Additional reporting: PA
