Two young men who drowned in Louisburgh, Co Mayo, after their car left the road and entered a swollen river early on Christmas morning have been named.
Martin Needham (27) and Declan Davitt (26), from the Carrowniskey area near Louisburgh, drowned in the early hours of Christmas Day after their 4x4 entered the swollen waterway at about 2.30am.
A third man, named locally as Tom McGreal (19), also from the Carrowniskey area, managed to escape the stricken SUV as it submerged and raise the alarm.
They were returning after a night socialising with friends and drove close to a bridge crossing the stretch of water that had become swollen in bad weather.
One of the bodies was found at about 3.30pm yesterday in a deep pool of water after an earlier search of the submerged SUV found no traces of the missing men. The second body was found a short time later downstream from where the vehicle was found.
The scene of the crash is about 1.5km from the coast.
It is understood the three men were using a locally known route to return home in the early hours.
All three are from the area, about 5km west of Louisburgh. Weather was poor at the time, with gale force winds and heavy rainfall.
Postmortem examinations
Following community prayers, the bodies were removed to Mayo University Hospital in Castlebar where postmortem examinations were to be carried out today.
Mr McGreal is said to be shocked and shaken by the ordeal and the loss of his friends, but is otherwise unharmed.
One neighbour at the search scene praised the teenager for managing to get out of the sinking vehicle and raise the alarm.
The two men’s funerals will be held later this week. Public notices said they would be deeply mourned by their “heartbroken” families.
Gardaí were continuing to investigate the cause of the incident.
‘Unbelievably numbing’
Louisburgh Macra Na Feirme said it was an “Unbelievably numbing day today [Monday] as we learned that these two fine men tragically were lost in an accident last night.
Despite the poor weather conditions, local residents turned out in large numbers to assist gardaí, fire service personnel and the Irish Coast Guard during the search on Monday for the men.
Garda Supt Joe Doherty, who attended the search scene, praised the work of locals in trying to find and rescue the missing men.
Christy Hyland, a Westport-based member of Mayo County Council, said: "The whole community is numbed with shock. These young lads were in the prime of their lives, a great loss to their families and parish." – Additional reporting: PA
