This article is from page 3 of the 2008-09-23 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
KILKEE is today coming to term with the tragic loss of one of the town’s elder statesmen. The body of pension- er Eddie Sweeney (75) was recovered on Sunday afternoon following one of the largest coordinated rescue at- tempts in recent local history.
A retired fisherman, Mr Sweeney has been missing since getting into difficulty while lobster fishing with his friend, Philip Browne, last Thurs- day afternoon.
Mr Browne, who lives in Sixmilebri- dge, survived the accident by remain- ing in a pocket of trapped air under the overturned boat for more than an hour, before being discovered by the rescue services.
The 55-year-old Limerick native had heroically tried to save Mr Sweeney’s life by holding onto him after the boat capsized, however rough waters forced the two men apart. The alarm was raised shortly after 3.30pm when it was reported that a boat had over- turned near the Diamond Rocks in
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Kilkee Marine Rescue Service and the Shannon-based Irish Coast Guard helicopter went to the scene and be- gan a search of the area where they discovered a small fishing vessel.
Mr Brown was located under the vessel shortly before 5pm and was airlifted to hospital in Tralee.
More than 200 people took part in the rescue of Mr Sweeney who’s body was discovered by divers from Kilkee Sub-Aqua Club just before lpm on Sunday afternoon. It was discovered
at a depth of 38 metres in an area of Kilkee Bay knows as the Pinnacle. The body was recovered and brought to Ennis General Hospital for a post mortem examination.
The rescue efforts were ham- pered by poor weather condi- tions on Thursday and _ Friday. The search, which was coordinated by Valentia Coast Guard, involved mem- bers from the Kilrush RNLI Lifeboat, the Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard, the Naval Service, Garda Wa- ter Unit, Kilkee Marine Rescue Serv-
ice, the Irish Coast Guard helicopter and members of the Civil Defence. Members of diving clubs from as far away as Athlone also took part in the search.
Meanwhile, two wind-surfers had a lucky escape when they got into dif- ficulty in water off Spanish Point on Saturday. The pair were pulled out to sea by strong currents where one man was separated from his board.
The two managed to swim to shore together and are said to be unharmed after the incident.