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Plea from bereaved families of
lost fishermen
18.03.08
"We need to keep Malin Head Coast
Guard open"
THE BEREAVED families of the two brothers who died
on Friday in a fishing tragedy off Inishowen Head
have hit out at plans to close Malin Head Coast
Guard marine rescue centre.
Highly-experienced retired fishermen Danny McDaid,
70 and his brother Francis, who was 69, lost their
lives when Francis' 29ft half-decker 'Strath Marie'
got into trouble as they collected lobster pots.
Speaking to InishowenNews.com, the deceased men's
brothers and sisters, wives and grown-up children
made an impassioned appeal to the Government not to
close Malin Head Coast Guard. |
Mickey McDaid, who made
the 999 call when his brothers failed to return to
Bunagee Harbour in Culdaff said: "At 4.55pm I
dialled 999 and was put through to Malin Head Coast
Guard. In two minutes they were on the ball and the
search was well underway in no time," said Mickey.
"I didn't have to explain where |
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Danny and Francis were.
I had to give them no readings - they knew exactly
where I was talking about. What hope would I have
had if I had to ring a crowd down in Shannon or
somewhere else?" he asked. "If Malin Head Coast
Guard wasn't there, we might never have found Danny
and Francis."
The families heard first-hand the quality and
professionalism of the search for Danny and Francis.
Those who were at home in the row of McDaid houses
in 'Strath', Bunn, Glengad, were listening to their
VHF radios - a staple in nearly every fisherman's
house - and heard all the communications themselves.
Danny's wife Ellen and Francis' wife, Betty were
among them and felt compelled to listen to every
twist and turn of the search mission - hoping
against hope their husbands would be found alive. |
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But the family are also
highly critical of the fact that Danny and Francis
were forced to fish out of Bunagee Harbour near
Culdaff instead of their local pier, Portaleen,
Glengad, because the crane at Portaleen has been
lying broken for weeks. They say this |
lost them vital time in
the subsequent search for the missing men.
"If they had left from Portaleen as they should
have, we would have noticed them missing a lot
quicker. If they were using the home port we would
have expected them back around 1pm but because they
had to use Bunagee that day, we thought that's what
was holding them up.
"They would have missed a lot quicker if they were
using our home port. We're talking a time lapse of
about three to four hours. There's a big difference
between a search starting around 2pm and one
starting at 5pm," added Mickey, on behalf of the
families.
The families appealed for the authorities to repair
the Portaleen crane as a matter of urgency. "It's
too late for us now but we wouldn't want another
family to go through what we're going through."
Mickey's 4.55pm call sparked a major air and sea
search involving up to 100 personnel and a search
area from Bunagee to Kinnago Bay. The Greencastle
Coast Guard crew was joined in the four-hour search
by crews from the Lough Swilly Lifeboat, Portrush
Lifeboat, the Sikorsky helicopter from Sligo and
local fishing vessels from Glengad and Greencastle.
Sea conditions were relatively calm and the sun was
shining when Danny and Francis left Bunagee that
morning around 8am. As the search for them continued
into the darkness, conditions had turned wet and
extremely cold. |
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