THE SEARCH for missing teenager Conal Owens enters its fifth day this morning after no trace was found of him around Curracloe beach in Co Wexford at the weekend.
A search team of hundreds of volunteers and members of the emergency services scoured the area on Saturday and Sunday for the missing 18-year-old from Naas, Co Kildare.
A large group gathered at Curracloe United's soccer pitch from 8.30am yesterday where they were briefed by gardaí before the fourth day of searching began.
The search party swelled during the day as many more members of the public arrived into the area Mr Owens went missing close to Curracloe beach late on New Year's Eve.
Mr Owens and his friends were staying in a house close by, having travelled to the area to ring in the new year. Throughout the night, some of them left the house and made their way on to the beach in different small groups.
The Irish Timesunderstands Mr Owens contacted his friends by phone at one point to find out where they were. It is believed he then began making his way to that location on the beach. However, he did not meet up with them and has not been seen since.
His mobile phone has not been found and gardaí are attempting to track it electronically.
The extensive air, sea and land search has now been extended beyond the areas surrounding Curracloe beach and village to cover large tracts of the south Wexford countryside.
As well as volunteers, the Garda, Coast Guard, the Civil Defence, RNLI and mountain rescue teams have been searching the area since he disappeared.
Local priest Fr James Fitzpatrick said there was "something in excess of 1,000 people" in Curracloe yesterday.
"There's been an awesome turnout of people from all over the country, which is important as the search area has been extended today," said Fr Fitzpatrick.
Many people have arrived from Kildare and Dublin to help the search as well as members of rugby clubs throughout the country. The missing teenager is a member of Naas RFC.
The search had been first co- ordinated from Hotel Curracloe, but yesterday moved to the grounds of Curracloe United AFC, where locals and the Civil Defence are providing food and hot drinks for the huge search party.
The pitch is also being used as a landing area for the Garda and Coast Guard helicopters.
"There's a reasonably upbeat kind of humour to the search party, they seem confident that they will find something," Fr Fitzpatrick said. "People here are hopeful, but with every minute that passes the worry grows."
The search is due to continue today, with progress being slowed somewhat by what a local Garda spokesman described as the "difficult terrain".
The area includes a long stretch of coastline and adjacent woodland and a canal. The extended search area also now encompasses Wexford's large North Slob, a well-known wildfowl reserve.