THE search for the missing Greencastle trawler, the Carrickatine, and its crew of six is to be extended for a further two to three weeks.
A storm, with winds up to Force 10, yesterday forced the Naval Service vessel, the LE Eithne, to shelter in Lough Swilly. However, the search for the Donegal men, missing for almost two months, will resume when the weather improves.
The search has been narrowed to a 200 square mile area off the Donegal coast. It could take another two weeks for that area to thoroughly searched. If nothing is then found, a religious ceremony for the missing men will be held at sea.
Brothers Jeremy and Conal McKinney, John Kelly and his 16 year old son Stephen, Terry Doherty (23), and Bernard Gormley (18), were drowned in the tragedy.
Yesterday Mr Terry Doherty's father, John, spoke of the agonising wait for news of the Carrickatine. "It's very hard to accept what has happened when you do not have a body to bury. Terry was a very quiet fellow. He could be in the house for a week and you would not know he was there.
"So, in a way, it seems the same. You expect to see him there when you turn around. You are always waiting for him to come back. Every night I took the key out of the door so that when Terry came home, he could use his own key to get in. I still do it. I expect him to come home.
All the families are very shook up. Others have suffered more than us. The McKinneys lost their two sons. The Kellys lost a father and son.
"Finding the wreck would solve a lot of our problems. If we could find the wreck and get the bodies out, we could bring them home to be buried. That would end it for us. It would give us some peace of mind.
"I want to know why my son lost his life. But knowing for sure why the boat went down is not just, very important to us, it is also important to the rest of the fishermen in the area."
Mr Doherty said the families were told the search would continue until the wreck was found.
"I hope the Minister keeps his promise. We have asked for American help in the search to speed it up but we have heard nothing. If they had that extra help and equipment it may be easier. But we are surely worried that they will shut down the search operation."
New regulations allowing an extra 40 Spanish trawlers to fish from 12 miles off the Irish coast could determine when the search will be called off. The search for the Carrickatine, concentrated north west of Malin Head, has occupied much of the Naval Service's time over the last two months.
Yesterday the Minister for the Marine, Mr Barrett, said the search of the area initially designated is expected to be completed soon.
"However, in view of the concerns of the bereaved families and the scale of the tragic loss of life involved, I have directed the emergency services to engage in a further programme of seabed investigation, concentrating on areas considered as most probably containing the location of the vessel.