The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
FORMER members of the Doolin Coast Guard unit played a part in the recovery of the body of one of two missing men in north Clare last week.
The former unit members managed to locate one body at Aille na Searrach at around on Thursday, April 7, at around 1.30pm.
Remaining members of the Doolin Coast Guard Unit are not allowed to search near certain sections of terrain around the cliffs between Doolin and Liscannor.
Tom Doherty told The Clare Champion he thought he saw what seemed to be a body in the waters near a cliff shelf on Tuesday, April 5, but the weather was too bad to investigate this matter further.
After enlisting the help of another former volunteer, Bernard Lucas, they went down to investigate on Thursday, April 7, at about 1.30pm and located the body.
A mobile phone belonging to the man who they located was passed on to Gardaí for identification purposes.
On Friday, garda divers swam in to the location and floated the body out on a stretcher using a line before he was brought to Doolin Pier and the Doolin Coast Guard Unit.
It was later transported to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) for a post mortem examination.
This man was later identified as Thomas Gattringer, (40) from New York in the United States of America. He was last seen on Sunday, April 3.
On Monday, Mr Doherty met the deceased’s wife, parents and friends and they walked to an area where it is believed it may have fallen from in his last known position.
His wife gave flowers to Mr Doherty’s parents who placed them on the ground before they were blown over the edge with the swirling wind.
In a separate operation, Shannon-based rescue helicopter 115 spotted another body in the sea off the north Clare coast and alerted the Aran Islands lifeboat, which recovered this person and brought it to Doolin Pier where it was transferred to the Doolin Coast Guard Station.
It was taken by a local undertaker to UHL for a post mortem examination. This body was later identified as Miguel Cordosa (41) from Ashbourne, County Meath.
These recent searches highlights the need for the Department of Transport to recruit experienced and qualified personnel as a matter of urgency as the existing Doolin Coast Guard Unit is extremely limited in what assistance it can provide, particularly in difficult sea and cliff top rescues.
