Gardai rule out threats link to disappearances

Gardai last night denied suggestions that the disappearance of a young German couple from a farm house in west Cork might be linked to reported arson threats against the farm house owner.

I have yesterday dismissed suggestions of foul play in the mysterious disappearance of a young German couple missing from a remote part of west Cork for more than four days.

Mr Andreas Speich (33) and Ms Diane Sehmeisch (21) were caretaking a house for German journalist Dirk Koch at Toe Head outside Skibbereen when they disappeared over the New Year holiday.

Mr Koch wrote an article for Der Spiegel last September on Irish agriculture, saying Irish farmers were happy to milk the EU for grants.

The article provoked a hostile reaction, and Mr Koch was reported to have received threats that his renovated farmhouse at Toe Head would be burnt down in retaliation. But yesterday gardai were denying any suggestion that the couple's disappearance was linked to the threats to Mr Koch.

Supt Noel Galwey, who is heading the search operation - said gardai were treating the couple's disappearance as simply a missing persons case.

"As far as we are concerned they are just two people who are missing and we're very concerned for their safety and with every passing hour and day our concern for them grows."

Supt Galwey confirmed that gardai had contacted the German embassy and asked them to notify the couple's families in Germany of their disappearance.

Mr Speich is from Alfter near Bonn, but it is understood he lived near Killaloe in Co Clare for some years before becoming caretaker of Mr Koch's farmhouse in early October. He was joined in early December by Ms Sehmeisch, who is from Prenzlauer Berg in the former East Berlin.

It is understood the couple kept to themselves and did not socialise much locally. They are known to be keen walkers and it is feared that they may have been blown off treacherous cliffs which line the headland during stormy weather over the New Year holiday.

The last confirmed sighting of the couple was at noon on New Year's Eve.

Yesterday gardai and Marine Emergency Services Search and Rescue teams from Toe Head, Glandore, Baltimore and Castlefreke extended their search along the coast.

But the operation was hampered by poor weather conditions, with winds gusting to Force 7 and sea swells rising to between 12 and 15 feet, making a shore search extremely difficult.

The operation is also complicated by the inaccessibility of much of the coast, with its hilly headlands.