HOPES WERE fading last night for two men in their 30s feared drowned off Helvick Head on the Waterford coast.
The alarm was raised at about 5.20pm yesterday when a local fisherman reported seeing a man in the sea some 300m from shore.
The fisherman had earlier seen two men standing up in a dinghy but by the time he got to where he had seen the man in the water, there was no sign of the man or of his companion.
A search operation was launched and the men’s dinghy was found capsized with two lifejackets still attached.
Declan Geoghegan of the Irish Coast Guard said the Youghal and Helvick inshore lifeboats searched the area off Helvick Head.
An Irish Coast Guard helicopter based at Waterford had also been involved in the search, as well as about a dozen members of the Coast Guard cliff and coastal rescue team from Helvick.
The search for the two men, who are believed to be from South Tipperary, will resume at first light this morning when a group of naval divers will join the operation.
Mr Geoghegan said the area where the men were last seen was about 20m (66ft) deep and sea conditions were excellent.
Supt Tom O’Grady of Dungarvan Garda station said gardaí had not received reports of anyone failing to return home yesterday evening but they were carrying out inquiries in the area. In particular, they were trying to establish if there was a link between the discovery of an unattended camper van near Helvick Head and the two men seen in the dinghy.
Meanwhile a member of a well-known west of Ireland ballad group died in a boating accident on Saturday.
It is believed Martin Mulloy (58) got a foot entangled in a rope aboard a small boat that he owns at Mulranny Pier in west Mayo and was dragged into the water.
Martin was a member of the Mulloy Brothers, which sings traditional ballads.