THE SEARCH was suspended yesterday evening for the Derry man who has been reported missing since the weekend off the Aran island of Inis Oírr.
The man, in his mid-forties, whose name has not been released, was last seen on the island’s pier at about 10pm on Saturday night in very heavy weather conditions.
Valentia Coast Guard said it would assess the situation today in relation to a continued search off the southern island.
They were alerted to the man’s disappearance on Sunday and initiated a sea search which has lasted two days.
It tasked the Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard Sikorsky helicopter, Rescue 115, along with the RNLI Aran island lifeboat, Doolin Coast Guard’s shore team and Atlantic D class lifeboat and Galway Sub-Aqua club also assisted.
The search resumed at low tide early yesterday and continued throughout the day.
The helicopter and Aran lifeboat conducted an extensive search around the pier area and then undertook a line search, covering the entire sea area between the two islands, Inis Oírr and Inis Meáin, yesterday.
Doolin Coast Guard members searched inland and at sea, and the Galway Sub-Aqua club divers continued to work after the other units had been stood down.
The Shannon helicopter had just airlifted members of Doolin Coast Guard to Inis Oírr on Sunday when it was alerted to the search for a 42-year-old French national who had been sea angling at Ballyreen, near Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare, and slipped on rocks.
The man was taken from the water and treated on board the helicopter en route to the Mid Western Regional Hospital in Limerick. He died in hospital a short time later.
Irish Water Safety has warned of the risks associated with sea angling, particularly in unfamiliar coastal areas in changeable weather conditions, following the loss of several foreign nationals engaged in such activity in recent years.
