As the search continues today for the skipper of the Connemara fishing vessel, St Oliver, the Marine Casualty Investigation Board is expected to start an inquiry into the trawler's sinking with four crew on board. Lorna Siggins, Marine Correspondent, reports.
The funeral of one of the four crew, that of Michael "Sonny" Faherty, is due to take place today in Co Galway, as the west Connemara coastline is combed for signs of the body of his close friend and fellow Aran islander, John Dirrane. The bodies of the two other crew members, Josie Connolly and Michael Mullin, were recovered on the shoreline on Saturday.
Gale force weather conditions hampered search efforts yesterday which were extended at sea and shore along a 40-mile stretch of rock and island-studded coast from Rossaveal to Roundstone. South-westerly to southerly gales precluded attempts by the Naval Service to send a diving team down to inspect the vessel, which was being broken up by heavy seas throughout the weekend.
However, the divers assisted with the shore search, and the team intends to dive as soon as conditions moderate. A marine surveyor is expected to be assigned to the inquiry by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board.
Mr Dirrane, who is originally from Inis Mór, was skipper and owner of the 65 foot vessel, which left Leitir Árd for Rossaveal on Friday evening and hit rocks off Duck Island (Inishlacken), south of Mweenish Island near Carna, shortly before 10 p.m. that night. The vessel had put out into strong southerly winds, but it is understood that the skipper was under severe pressure to take advantage of spring tides to move the boat after it had undergone some repairs at Mr Connolly's yard.
On board with Mr Dirrane were Mr Faherty, also from Inis Mór, well-known Connemara boatbuilder Josie Connolly from Leitir Árd, and 18-year-old Michael Mullin from Cleggan. A very experienced fisherman, Mr Dirrane was a father of a young family, and he and his wife, Úna, lost a child through illness several years ago.
The couple had recently had their fourth child and were building a house in Inverin, Co Galway, several miles from where Mr Dirrane's former fishing partner, Michael Faherty, lived with his wife, Carmel. Mr Faherty had been owner of his own vessel, Be Ready, and the couple's first child is due in some weeks.
Mr Connolly, the oldest crew member on board, was a former chair of the Galway Hooker Association. He had married in recent years and was in his early 60s. Mr Mullin, the youngest on board, had worked on fishing vessels out of Rossaveal and hoped to pursue a career at sea.
The 65-foot St Oliver was almost 30 years old and was bought by Mr Dirrane from a fisherman in Burtonport, Co Donegal. The vessel was seen steaming south from shore near Carna shortly before nightfall on Friday, but the alert was raised when its emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) was activated shortly before 10 p.m. It appears that the crew did not have time to take to a life raft which was found along with other debris in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The Aran island lifeboat, the Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard Sikorsky, the Air Corps Dauphin helicopter based at Sligo, the Cleggan and Costello inshore rescue vessels and many local fishing vessels were involved in the search from late on Friday night, which was also joined initially by the Naval Service patrol ship, LE Ciara. Several hundred people volunteered to help walk the coastline.
During the search on Saturday, the Air Corps Dauphin was diverted to Lough Swilly in Co Donegal where a fishing vessel, the Angela Marie, was reported to be drifting without power near rocks south of Fanad Head. The Lough Swilly lifeboat took the vessel under tow to safety.
The south Connemara coastline is particularly treacherous, and the reef which the trawler struck about 15 miles south-east of Slyne Head is just several miles east of the Skerd Rocks, where a Spanish fishing vessel, the Arosa, sank four years ago with the loss of 12 of its 13 crew.
Tributes were paid last night to the crew members at the removal Mass for Mr Faherty, while Mr Johnny Healion, Galway hooker skipper and owner, said Mr Connolly was a highly-respected sailor who had inspired many and facilitated the training of young shipwrights at his yard.