Missing fishermen search continues

THE IRISH Naval service will stay with the search off the north Dublin coast for two missing fishermen “for as long as we are needed and wanted”, a spokesmen said yesterday.

A specialist team of eight Naval Service divers arrived on scene in Skerries at about 4pm where the search for two fishermen, Ronan Browne (26) and David Gilsenan (41) who have been missing since Friday, went into its fourth day.

David McMyler, incident manager for the Irish Coast Guard said items of debris had been located “but nothing of significance”.

The two men were last seen on Friday at about noon as they left Skerries harbour in Mr Browne’s 5m (17ft) open-top fishing vessel, Lady Linda. They were going to check on lobster pots just east of St Patrick’s Island and it is thought they got into difficulty as winds picked up in the afternoon.

The alarm was raised at about 6pm that evening when they failed to return. The upturned vessel was found at 11am on Saturday off Clogherhead, near the river Boyne in Co Louth.

Both men were married. Mr Gilsenan is understood to have two children, aged six and nine, while Mr Browne married last September. His boat was named after his wife, Linda.

Mr McMyler said Coast Guard units had been searching the shoreline from 6am yesterday, from Greenore in Co Louth as far south as Howth, Co Dublin.

“Also the RNLI volunteers have been out . . . nothing of significance has been found. It is very difficult and frustrating, for the families especially,” he said.

Naval Service divers arrived from Haulbowline Island in Cork at 4pm with a rigid inflatable boat for use in sub-surface searches.

Separately, the local community will walk to raise funds tomorrow evening to help pay for fuel for the RNLI boats that are continuing the search for the missing men.

The walk begins at the bandstand, Red Island in Skerries at 7pm. People are asked to bring €10 “or whatever they can afford”.