A VILLAGE was in mourning last night after the drowning of two kayakers in Co Waterford on Wednesday evening.
Philip Kelly (31), from Aherlow in Co Tipperary, and Connie Smith (33) originally from Killashandra, Co Cavan, drowned after getting trapped at a man-made weir on the river Clodagh in Portlaw.
The men had been kayaking with their friend, Derek Elliott (26), from Knockaderry in Co Limerick, when the accident occurred.
Mr Elliott was unharmed in the incident at the weir – part of the East Waterford Water Supply Scheme for the city.
Yesterday, Mr Elliott said none of the group realised how turbulent the water was. “The simple fact was Connie went down first and thought he’d be all right,” he said.
“Phil went in to save him but he couldn’t and then they roared at me not to go in. So, I didn’t and I came up and went to get help.
“By the time I got up and got help and came back down unfortunately it was too late.”
Mr Elliott said that if Mr Kelly and Mr Smith had not told him to stay away from the water he would most likely be dead. “It’s tragic,” he said.
“We had all the safety gear but we just didn’t anticipate Mother Nature or the strength of it.”
Mr Elliott said he and a local man, who came to his assist him, tried to rescue Mr Kelly and Mr Smith by lowering ropes and sticks into the water but soon realised it was too late.
The fire service at Portlaw and an ambulance crew from the local branch of the Irish Red Cross arrived at the scene, at Portlaw’s now-derelict cotton mill and tannery, shortly before 9pm.
The Marine Rescue Co-ordination Centre was contacted and Coast Guard units from Bunmahon and Dunmore East also attended the scene.
The Irish Coast Guard helicopter arrived at Portlaw promptly but could not use its winching device in the operation because of overhead cables.
Tragedy struck the men on the river, a tributary of the river Suir, as they kayaked down a weir that was compared to a “whirlpool” yesterday.
Carrick-on-Suir river rescue team assisted in the recovery of the men’s bodies on Wednesday evening. The first body was recovered from the river at about 10pm, while the second was removed at 11.30pm.
Senator Paudie Coffey, a Portlaw local, said: “There is a feeling of shock and desperation and our thoughts are with the families.”
John O’Shea, chief executive of Goal, paid tribute to Mr Smith for his work with the charity. “Connie worked with Goal as an engineer in Afghanistan, Angola and Darfur from 2003 to 2005,” Mr O’Shea said.
“It was only in recent weeks that he was in touch with us to ensure that we bore him in mind should any suitable posts have arisen overseas in the near future.”