IRISH AND British marine investigators will conduct an inquiry into the deaths of two Donegal fishermen, following the loss of their lobster boat three miles off the northwest coast.
Brothers and neighbours Francis (68) and Danny McDaid (70) from Glengad, Co Donegal, were declared dead in Altnagelvin Hospital, Derry, late on Friday night after both were rescued just over three miles east off Inishowen Head.
No alert had been issued by the vessel, and it is believed the two men had been in the water for some hours. Neither was wearing a lifejacket when found, and both had been separated and swept some three miles from where they had been working, into Northern Irish territorial waters. Apart from loose debris, there was no sign of the 10m Strath-Marie.
The alarm was raised on Friday evening when the wooden half-decker owned by Francis McDaid's son failed to return to Bunagee harbour. Weather conditions were reasonable when the two brothers left on Friday morning to lift pots which had recently been set.
Both men were very experienced fishing skippers, but Danny McDaid had retired about four years ago and had accompanied his brother as a favour to his nephew.
The sea area between Glengad and Inishowen Head has a reputation for poor VHF radio and mobile phone coverage, but the location in which the pots were set, between one and three miles offshore, should have been in range, according to the Irish Coast Guard. When the vessel did not respond to radio messages issued by Malin Coast Radio and mobile phone calls from relatives, the coast radio tasked the Lough Swilly and Portrush lifeboats, the Irish Coast Guard helicopter based at Sligo and four local fishing vessels, along with Greencastle Irish Coast Guard vessel and shore teams.
Charlie Cavanagh, the Irish Coast Guard's area officer in Greencastle, said the Portrush lifeboat found some debris, including a life ring and fish boxes. Shortly after that, the first man was located at about 6.15pm.
He was winched from the lifeboat to the Sikorsky helicopter and flown to Derry's Eglinton airport, where he was taken by ambulance to Altnagelvin Hospital.
The second man was spotted at about 8.40pm by the Greencastle rescue boat. He was taken to shore by the rescue craft, where an ambulance was waiting.
"We were trying cardiac pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and felt it was better to continue this in an ambulance rather than involve the helicopter in a winch at this stage," Mr Cavanagh said. "It was a medical decision."
The ambulance was given a Garda escort to the border, and escorted by the PSNI to Derry. However, both men were declared dead in hospital.
Fr Brian Brady, parish priest of Malin, said the brothers had been "close in life as brothers, neighbours and friends".
They are survived by their wives, nine children and a number of grandchildren. "These were salt of the earth men, excellent neighbours and men you could turn to for any sort of assistance," Fr Brady told The Irish Times.
"They were helping their son and nephew, Frankie, who has to work elsewhere as there isn't enough living to sustain full-time fishing," he said.
Greencastle Coast Guard volunteers were continuing to search the shoreline yesterday for signs of the vessel, and for its satellite emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) which did not activate.