A search was continuing early this morning for a seven-year-old boy missing in Bannow Bay, Co Wexford. The body of his uncle, from Clonshaugh, Dublin, was recovered from the sea in the area at about 9 p.m.
The alarm was raised about 7.30 p.m. by the dead man's 13year-old son, who managed to get ashore after a group of people who were collecting cockles were caught by the incoming tide. The teenager is believed to be a non-swimmer.
The incident occurred on a section of Bannow Bay about a mile from Wellingtonbridge, where the group were digging for cockles on a raised mudflat, known as the Cockle Strand.
Late last night a Marine Rescue helicopter with night-search facilities was on its way to the scene from Dublin Airport.
Earlier, the Air Corps helicopter based at Waterford had searched the area assisted by the Fethard lifeboat and the Fethard and Kilmore Quay marine emergency search units. A large number of local people and visitors also were assisting in the search for the boy.
A Garda spokesman said the group, believed to be from Dublin and who were holidaying in the area, got into difficulties shortly before 5.30 p.m. The teenage boy managed to get ashore and raise the alarm at a house near the beach. The body of the man was recovered when it was washed ashore about 9 p.m.
A spokesman for the Irish Marine Rescue Service said the Air Corps helicopter had to discontinue the search as night fell and a helicopter equipped with nightsearch equipment was dispatched from Dublin Airport to the scene.
The teenager who raised the alarm was said to be in a comfortable condition in Wexford General Hospital last night.
The search mission is believed to be one of the first flown by the Air Corps helicopter based at Waterford. The Dublin Airport-based Sikorsky helicopter, which operates on a 24-hour basis, began service as part of a multi-million pound plan to improve search-and-rescue facilities.