THE FAMILIES of two men who drowned while fishing for mackerel off Helvick Head in Co Waterford have expressed their relief after Naval Service divers recovered the men’s bodies near where they disappeared.
A team of Naval Service divers under Lieut Tony O’Regan recovered the bodies of John O’Brien (36) and Pat Esmonde (36) in about 25 metres of water about 100 metres from where they were last seen fishing on Sunday afternoon.
The dive team from Haulbowline Naval Base had begun searching for the two men at about 9am yesterday. They were on their second dive when they saw the two bodies close together on the seabed just west of Carraignascamall Rock.
The dive team brought the bodies to the surface where they were transferred to the Helvick RNLI inshore lifeboat, which brought them back to Helvick Pier where relatives had been keeping a vigil since late on Sunday night.
Among those who had joined in the search operation was Mr O’Brien’s cousin, John Glavin from Clonmel, Co Tipperary, who had spent the past two days scanning the sea with a pair of binoculars from the clifftops that surround Muggorts Bay.
“I was on the cliffside when I saw the Navy lads bring something up,” he said. “It’s much as we expected but at least it gives a bit of closure now for everyone. There’s not much we can do but at least we can start a bit of grieving now because everything was on hold.”
Originally from Golden, Co Tipperary, Mr O’Brien lived at Fourmilewater, Co Waterford, with his wife, Ann, and their four young children aged from two to 10. Mr Esmonde lived at Grange near Cahir with his wife, Rose, and daughter Shannon (12).
Family members were at the quayside to receive the bodies.
Mr Esmonde’s sister, Louise spoke of their relief at getting back her brother’s body while the local curate in Ring, Fr Conchúr Ó Ceallaigh, said it was a comfort to the families to get back their loved ones.
“It was good to recover the bodies and recover them today rather than prolonging the agony for people, but that said, nothing makes it right, nothing makes it easier, nothing takes away the pain,” Fr Ó Ceallaigh said. “It was better than it might have been but it’s still terribly sad for everyone.”
Supt Tom O’Grady of Dungarvan Garda station said the bodies had been removed to Waterford Regional Hospital in Ardkeen for postmortem examinations. He paid tribute to all who had been involved in the search operation.
“We got great co-operation from the Naval Service, they were excellent, and from the Irish Coast Guard and the RNLI. Everyone weighed in – all the volunteers and the local fishermen who went out searching and the community in Ring and Helvick were tremendous.”
The search was launched on Sunday at 5.20pm after fisherman Willie Kett from Stradbally, Co Waterford, raised the alarm after he heard one of the men calling for help in the water near their dinghy some 200 metres from where he was fishing for pollock.