Only one of two men drowned in Donegal had life jacket

Two men whose bodies were recovered from waters off Co Donegal on Sunday made no emergency call and appear not to have told anyone where they were headed at sea.

Derek Flanagan, divisional controller at Malin Marine Rescue Sub Centre, also said one of the men was wearing a life jacket but the other was not.

“It would be our experience over the last number of years that a lot of people still go to sea without life jackets, no matter how much of a public advertisement we do to try and educate the public that they should always wear a life jacket,” he said.

The men have been formally identified as Rimantis Barauskas (56) and Raimundas Jesdauskas (34), Lithuanians who had lived in Ireland for some time.

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The body of Mr Barauskas, a married man who lived in Oldcastle, Co Meath, was discovered washed up on the rocks at 10.30 am on Sunday. He was not wearing a life jacket.

The remains of Mr Jesdauskas, who lived in Ballymahon, Co Longford, were spotted at sea two hours later by the Rescue 118 helicopter from Sligo and lifted from the sea by Bundoran lifeboat. He was wearing a life jacket.

Their boat, with two inflatable life jackets aboard, was washed up on the rocks.

Marine radio

It is believed the pair left the pier at Teelin on a rib (rigid-hulled inflatable boat) on Saturday and had not returned overnight. The bodies of the men were taken to Letterkenny University Hospital and the Coroner's Office notified.

Mr Flanagan said it appeared the men had not informed anyone where they were going or when they would be back, while a rib would not be “designed to spend all night on”.

“I cannot say whether they did or did not have a marine radio – all I can say is we did not receive a distressed call from them.”

There were reports the men had been rescued by the Irish Coast Guard around the same area four weeks ago but Mr Flanagan said while there had been rescue incidents he could not confirm the two deceased were involved.

“One of the rescues recently was a vessel similar to that, which was broken down, and again there was no communications from the persons in the boat - but somebody ashore had seen them rowing and then called it in and then we sent a team over to rescue them.”

Worsening conditions

Paddy Byrne, who runs Sliabh League Boat Tours, said he cancelled his final trip with passengers from Teelin Pier at 7pm on Saturday night. Several hours earlier he saw the two deceased park their car and trailer before sailing out to sea from Teelin in their five-metre rigid inflatable boat.

Mr Byrne said conditions were good when the men sailed but they worsened later in the day. He believes the last time the two Lithuanians were spotted at sea off Glencolmcille was about 5pm.

He said the two men were not experienced boatmen, especially in notorious waters off Malinbeg.

An inquiry into the incident is being conducted by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board.