The seaside village of Duncannon was deserted yesterday as grey choppy seas pounded the beach. In the harbour, fisherman Alan Foley (20), dressed in yellow oilskins, sat mending his nets beside the Alma-May trawler, which was tied up in port like most of the local boats. He said the weather was "too bad to go out today. There's no let-up."
Last Thursday he and two friends took part in a search of shoreline around the Hook and Baginbun in the hope of finding survivors. Mr Foley, from the nearby village of Ramsgrange, began working as a fisherman at the age of 16, like his "father, uncles and grandfather". He described the last week's events as "an awful tragedy", but added: "you have to keep on fishing." He described the sinking of the Père Charles as "a freak accident".
Overlooking the harbour, at the Star of the Sea church, Fr John Nolan, parish priest of Duncannon, said "people are frustrated that weather conditions are hampering the search". He added that "recovering the bodies would bring closure".
Throughout the day, the weather changed from squally showers to clear patches, but visibility was reasonably good for the search of the shoreline. At Kilmore Quay, in a glass-fronted office facing the Saltee Islands, harbour master Capt Phil Murphy said patrol units from the Coast Guard were out walking "from Carnsore Point right down to Dunmore - a huge area to search". He said they faced some difficulties when walking on cliff tops because of the strong winds and also that some of the rocky outcrops of the shoreline were very slippery. Most of the local fishing fleet was tied up in harbour because of the weather.
"In the fishing industry, people know tragedies like this will happen at sea, but that doesn't lessen the effect of it. The waiting is the hardest thing for families," Capt Murphy said.
The narrow road out to Hook Head was sprayed with foam from huge waves crashing on to the rocks beneath the lighthouse.
Builder Stephen O'Leary (44) from Bannow was on his lunch break and looking out to sea where two trawlers appeared to be fishing in rough seas. He had taken part in a search of the shoreline last Sunday. "There are a lot of people out walking the shore - there's a lot of coastline to cover." He said he hoped the bodies would be found soon as "there would be some consolation for the families".
In the small fishing village of Slade, an experienced fisherman who did not want to be named expressed pessimism that divers will be able to enter the Père Charlestoday. He believes that "the divers won't be able to go into the boat because underwater visibility won't be good enough after all the gales" and "a few days fine weather would be needed" first.
He said he had lost his friend, who was skipper of The Rising Sun, a trawler that sank in an earlier tragedy.
"You wonder in the fishing game will you ever go back, but eventually you have to get on with life and keep going."