Truck carrying materials for O'Donnell's house slips off pier into the sea

A truck carrying materials for an island house owned by Daniel O’Donnell’s wife Majella slipped off a pier into the sea yesterday…

A truck carrying materials for an island house owned by Daniel O’Donnell’s wife Majella slipped off a pier into the sea yesterday.

It slid into the water off Owey Island pier, Co Donegal, when carrying tiles and other materials for the house. Nobody was injured and there may be a bid to salvage the truck at low tide today. The incident happened at 3.30pm yesterday when a ferry delivered the truck from Burtonport to Owey.

Eyewitnesses said the truck was off the ferry on the slipway and the driver was about to lift off its load using a crane attached to the lorry. The truck started to slip back and the ferry operator moved his vessel towards the slipway.

One person who was present said: “The ferryman moved his vessel towards the truck to try to prevent any more slippage. But somehow the truck lifted the front of the ferry and the situation stalled. The ferryman lost his propulsion and the lorry slowly slipped into the water.”