No traces of bodies found on trawlers

Searches of two trawlers have found no trace of the remains of the men who were lost when the vessels sank off the Co Wexford coast.

An examination of the Pere Charlestrawler, which sank off Hook Head in January claiming five lives, was carried out earlier today by members of the Garda Water Unit in Arklow, Co Wicklow.

But the search of the interior compartments found no remains of skipper Tom Hennessy (32), his uncle Pat Hennessy (48), Billy O'Connor (50), Pat Coady (28) and Andriy Dyrin (30) from Ukraine.

Gardaí searched most of the vessel on Saturday after it was lifted into a cradle on the quayside in Arklow and searched a small number of remaining compartments today.

Similarly, a Garda search today of the Maggie Btrawler, which sank in poor weather five miles off Hook Head in March 2006, found found no remains of skipper Glynn Cott (30) and Polish crewman Jan Sankowskis (45).

Both vessels were towed to the compound last week after being raised from the seabed.

Over 30 relatives of those who died when the Pere Charlessank travelled out to the salvage barge off Dunmore East last Friday to see the trawler in which their loved ones died.

Investigators from the Marine Casualty Investigation Board will now begin an examination of the vessels.