A search team looking for a small fishing boat off the Co Down coast have reported finding an oil slick off County Down. A spokesperson for the Irish Coastguard said "bits of debris, a pair of shoes and an anorak" have been recovered from the area. He said theitems have not yet been identified.
The search was continuing, but local residents feared the worst for the three members of the Greene family, all of whom have the first name of Michael.
The FV Tullagh Murray Lassleft Kilkeel Harbour, Co Down, more than 24 hours ago and has not yet been found despite an extensive search of the coast.
Mr Michael Greene, his son, who lived in the Northern Irish village of Ballymartin, and the boy's grandfather, from Kilkeel, went to sea at about 4 a.m. on St. Valentine's Day and were reported missing when they failed to return on Thursday night.
"It's really terrible," said Patricia Slater, wife of the senior superintendent of the Fishermen's Mission in the small fishing town of Kilkeel, on the north coast of the lough.
"Any loss of life is terrible but I mean three generations from the same family is just unbelievable."
Residents of the close-knit community of 9,000 said the loss was particularly tragic since the prawn-fishing vessel was to be decommissioned under a plan to reduce the size of the fishing fleet working the waters off Northern Ireland.
The young lad had just gone to sea because it was going to be his last chance to go on the boat, one resident said.
Weather was reported to have been reasonably good in the area when the boat set out on Thursday and rescue teams said visibility remained excellent on Friday.
Another trawler capsized in the lough two weeks ago and one of its three-man crew was drowned.
additional reporting PA