Galway fishermen rescued from sinking trawler
The fishing community of Connemara has expressed relief and joy this week after the rescue of five fishermen off the coast of Scotland on Tuesday morning following the sinking of their boat in high seas.
Five people were plucked from the waters of the Atlantic around 11am on Tuesday by a helicopter crew from the Scottish Maritime Coastguard Agency when An Iúda Naofa sank quickly after taking in water.
Seán Griffin, Manager of the Galway and Aran Fishermens Co-op at Rossaveal, told the Connacht Tribune that the successful outcome of Tuesday’s rescue operation had brought a great sense of relief to the area.
“This could have been an awful lot worse and it is really wonderful news that all five people on the boat were rescued uninjured.
“Families along the Connemara coast and the islands have, down through the years, had to face tragedies at sea. But this week, we are all tremendously relieved that everything has worked out okay,” said Mr Griffin.
He paid tribute to the Scottish Coastguard service and also to the community at Stornoway in the Hebrides who had shown tremendous kindness and warmth to the rescued fishermen. The crew had lost all their personal belongings in the incident.
“The boat is a big financial loss, but a boat can always be replaced – people cannot. We are just so relieved,” said Mr Griffin.
The skipper and owner of the boat, Mairtín Ó Conghaile, is originally from the Aran Islands but now lives in Rossaveal. He had been due to change the 200 tonne boat over the coming year. His son Micheál was also one of the five-man crew.
Two of the crew were from the Carna area – Eric Hernon and Padráig Breathnach – the fifth was a Romanian national.
Just before the boat sank on Tuesday morning, she had been mackerel fishing alongside another Rossaveal boat, The Star of Hope.
Two of the An Iúda Naofa crew were airlifted onto The Star of Hope vessel while the other three were airlifted to the Western Isles Hospital at Stornoway where they were treated for mild hypothermia.
For more on this story, see this week's Connacht Tribune