Experts examine refloated boat
Accident investigators were today examining a fishing boat in a bid to establish how it sank with the loss of five lives, including three generations of one family.
Garda and navy units, led by divers, managed to refloat the Pisces from the seabed off Fethard-on-Sea, in Co Wexford.
Earlier, the body of 14-year-old Mark Doyle was discovered just 150 metres away from the vessel, which went down after taking on water in fog during a family fishing trip.
His father Seamus Doyle, aged 33, and grandfather Jim Cooney, a 60-year-old undertaker, also died alongside two other men, John Cullen, aged 45, and Martin Roche, of Enniscorthy, Co Wexford.
The results of post-mortem examinations on the five bodies were expected later today, police said.
Navy divers and the Garda Sub Aqua Unit attached buoyancy aides to the boat which was lying 13 metres below the surface about a mile from the shore.
Compressed air gradually brought the 26ft vessel to the surface and water was pumped out before attempts were made to tow it to Waterford Harbour.
Police and inspectors from the Marine Casualties Investigation Board were set to examine the boat in a bid to discover how and why it took on water.
Although there are rocks near to where the boat sank an initial examination of the wreck revealed no obvious signs of damage.
One theory was that a pumping mechanism may have malfunctioned drawing water on to the vessel instead of away from the engine.
Meanwhile, officers were interviewing the survivors - four boys and youths, plus the boat’s skipper Paddy Barron, amid eyewitness reports that no one on board was wearing a lifejacket.
Mark’s brother Patrick was among those who survived when the boat went down, two hours after the party had put out from Fethard.
The other survivors were Paul Cullen - the son of John Cullen - Shane O’Neill and Derek O’Connor.
Mr Barron and two teenagers were released from Wexford General Hospital last night. The other two were being treated for shock and were not injured.
Supt Tom Saunderson said: ‘‘The gardai will carry out an investigation into this incident. That will be carried out in conjunction with the Department of the Marine and depending on that investigation we will see where we go from there.
‘‘There is shock around the area. The Cooney and the Doyle families are all very well known but unfortunately this is one of many tragedies that has hit the area over the years.’’
A Coastguard spokesman praised local sailors who went to the aid of the stricken boat when it issued a distress call before noon on Sunday.
‘‘The local boats that were on the scene so quickly certainly saved lives,’’ he said.
Tommy Roche, a fisherman who reached the area just 20 minutes after the call for help, said the five survivors he found were within minutes of drowning.
‘‘I would say they had another two or three minutes. We were just lucky that we steamed in the right direction,’’ he said.
Meanwhile a spokesman for the Water Safety Association said: ‘‘Whenever you operate on, in or near the water you should wear a lifejacket, regardless of whether it is work related or for pleasure.’'
