Gardaí have issued an appeal for information on the movements of two Japanese tourists, for whom a land and sea search in ongoing in Kilkee.
Eiji Takagi (63) and Ushio Azaki (61) checked out of their hotel in Spanish Point on Saturday morning and have not been seen since.
The alarm was raised on Tuesday after their red Hyundai hired car was spotted in Kilkee, still in the same place where it had been parked a couple of days earlier. Concerns were heightened when it was established that they did not turn up for a flight from Shannon on Monday.
A search was initiated along the northern section of Kilkee Bay on Tuesday evening but discontinued as darkness fell. The search resumed on Wednesday but was hampered by rough seas in the morning. The search resumed yet again in the afternoon and was called off when light faded.
It is understood that the search on the shore and in the water will switch to the southern part of the bay this morning (Thursday).
Gardaí are anxious to talk to anybody who may have seen the couple on their journey in the red Hyundai from Spanish Point to Kilkee oranywhere in the seaside resort on Saturday evening.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.