Search for Down fisherman to resume tomorrow

The search will resume this morning for the body of a fisherman who is feared drowned after his boat hit rocks on the Co Down…

The search will resume this morning for the body of a fisherman who is feared drowned after his boat hit rocks on the Co Down coast last week.

Bad weather halted underwater searches today for the body of one of two fishermen drowned in the Irish Sea.

Divers who recovered the body of Donall Gibson (22) near the wreck of his trawler off the Co Down coast had hoped to locate his colleague, Conor Bogues.

But as conditions deteriorated the operation, centred around Ardglass Harbour where the Greenhillsank on Thursday, was called off until tomorrow.

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Volunteers had combed the coastline in an attempt to locate the body of Mr Bogues (26) from Ballynahinch, Co Down.

Around 400 locals, including the families of both men, attended a brief ecumenical service on the quayside on Sunday night as the third full day of searches came to an end.

Alec Slater, of the Fisherman's Mission, the 20-minute service was an opportunity to pray for the men and everyone affected by the tragedy.

He added: "The community just wanted to be there to support each other."

A police diving team visited the wreck of the vessel on Saturday but did not re-visit the scene - which has been designated an exclusion zone - yesterday due to a poor weather forecast. Instead civilian divers went down close to the wreck and recovered Mr Gibson's body around 3pm.

The skipper of the Greenhillwas rescued by an RNLI lifeboat not long after the vessel started to sink on Thursday.

He was taken to hospital with hypothermia.