Search for man's body after woman found drowned

A search was due to resume at first light today for an English man who is feared to have drowned off the Connemara coast early yesterday, writes Lorna Siggins, Western Correspondent.

The body of a 27-year old English woman, who was reported missing after she went swimming with the man near Aerphort beach outside Clifden early yesterday morning, was recovered at lunchtime yesterday. Her remains were taken to University College Hospital, Galway, for a postmortem examination.

The two were among a group of 12 who were renting accommodation in the area over the bank holiday weekend. It is understood the pair went swimming shortly before 6am on a remote beach, several miles northwest of Clifden on the road to Claddaghduff. Weather conditions were said to be reasonable, with a westerly breeze.

The alert was raised shortly after 8am by two German visitors who were staying at the beach and noticed the pair had not returned to collect their clothes. The Germans heard them arriving, but went back to sleep.

At about 7am, they noticed a parked car with an open door, and found clothing and a car key further along the beach. They scanned the sea area but saw no one.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Clifden offshore and inshore lifeboats, Achill lifeboat and Costello Bay inshore lifeboat were tasked by Malin Coast Guard, along with Irish Coast Guard Sikorsky helicopters from Shannon and Sligo. A number of fishing vessels also assisted, along with divers from Naas Sub Aqua Club in Co Kildare who were in the area for the weekend.

Shortly before 1pm, the woman's body was spotted by a helicopter a distance from the beach, west of Inishturk island.

Mr John Roberts, operations manager with RNLI Clifden, said the beach was not known to be dangerous, but the recovery distance from shore was significant.

"It isn't a very popular swimming area, and is part of a coastline with a complex tidal system including a very fast current close to Omey island," he said. "That makes it harder and harder now to pinpoint a location, and we have been covering a very large sea area."

Friends of the pair, who are believed to be from London, spent many anxious hours on the shoreline waiting for news, and were very distressed when the woman's body was found.

Hopes that her friend might have survived faded as the afternoon wore on, given the sea temperatures and the risk of hypothermia.

A swimmer in normal clothing can survive one hour maximum in the water, as body heat loss in water is 26 times quicker than on land.

The lifeboats will resume the search this morning.