A fisherman (65) has appeared in court charged with the manslaughter of five people who drowned when the the boat they were in sank nearly two years ago.
Mr Paddy Barden, who was the skipper of the 26-foot vessel Pisces, appeared at New Ross District Court. He made no reply when charged and was remanded on bail until June 8th.
The Pisceswent down off the coast of Fethard-on-Sea, Co Wexford, in July 2002 with nine people aboard. Four men and one teenage boy drowned.
Those who died included three generations of the same family: Mr James Cooney; his son-in-law, Mr Seamus Doyle; and his grandson, Mark Doyle; along with two family friends, Mr Martin Roche and Mr John Cullen.
The survivors included the vessel's skipper.
The tragedy prompted the introduction of stricter rules governing such vessels after it emerged that under the regime in operation at the time, the boat's operator was not obliged to provide life-jackets for all passengers. None of those who died was wearing buoyancy aids.
A file was prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions last May and today gardaí arrested a man at his home in Fethard-on-Sea.