Search for two missing men off Wexford suspended

A search by more than 100 members of sub-aqua clubs and a team of navy divers for a rescue diver and a fishing boat captain believed…

A search by more than 100 members of sub-aqua clubs and a team of navy divers for a rescue diver and a fishing boat captain believed to have gone down with his vessel has been suspended overnight.

The navy divers managed to search close to the wreck of the sunken trawler, the Rising Sun.

However, they did not find either Patrick Colfer (37), the skipper of the boat, or Billy O'Connor the diver who went missing when looking for.

It is now believed the capsizing of the fishing boat, Rising Sun, on Tuesday off the Wexford coast, has claimed the lives of two of the people on board and the search diver.

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One of two civilian divers, Mr O'Connor, failed to return from a dive to look for the body of Mr Colfer from Slade, on Thursday. There has been no sign of the diver since 3.25pm on Thursday.

The Irish Coastguard on Friday changed the search and rescue mission to a recovery operation.

Around 14 Navy divers using specialist equipment searched the area south of Saltee Island where the vessel went down.

They used specialist equipment to assist them with their search.