Two fishing vessels that sank off the southeast coast with the loss of seven lives are to be raised from the seabed.
Minister for Transport Martin Cullen and Minister of State Pat "the Cope" Gallagher confirmed this afternoon that tenders would be put out to raise the Père Charlesand the Maggie B.
The Père Charlessank on January 10th, 2007, and the Maggie Bon March 29th, 2006.
No sighting of the bodies of the five crew of the Père Charleshas been reported since the vessel sank several miles off Hook Head while returning from a herring trip.
Hours later, on January 11th, the Honeydew IIsank some 20 miles further west off Mine Head. Two crew were rescued, but skipper Ger Bohan (39) and his Polish crewman Tomasz Jagla (32) were lost.
The families of Père Charlesskipper Tom Hennessy (32), his uncle Pat Hennessy (48), Billy O'Connor (50), Pat Coady (27) and Andriy Dyrin (32) from the Ukraine have been advised by an independent assessor that the film recorded by Naval Service divers covers an estimated third of the vessel's interior on the seabed in 35 metres of water.
The families began a campaign several months ago to have the boat raised and collected thousands of names in a petition. The were also in contact with the families of two men who died in the Maggie Bsinking in the same area over a year ago.
Both the Père Charlesand the Maggie Bwere steel vessels, whereas the Honeydew II is a wooden vessel and would have sustained more damage.
The Ministers said they recognised "that there is a level of concern, particularly among the families directly involved, that the absence of a boat makes it impossible to adequately investigate the cause of accidents or to ensure that reasonable steps have been taken to recover bodies.
"They are also acutely aware of the trauma suffered by grieving families and that they need to be assured that the steps taken in the aftermath of a tragedy are appropriate," the statement said.
"It is essential that the necessary evidence is gathered to support investigations. It is not normal international practice to raise boats.
Mr Cullen and Mr Gallagher said "every lesson learned from these tragedies would be used to help prevent similar occurrences in the future".
The tender will be published at an EU level shortly and tenderers will be asked to assess the costs and risks involved in raising the boats.