Donegal fisherman (37) dies off Achill coast

Donegal fisherman (37) dies off Achill coast


Anton McNulty

A Donegal fisherman drowned off the Achill coast when he fell from a fishing trawler during high winds yesterday (Tuesday) morning.
Cathal McDaid (37) of Culdaff, Inishowen, Co Donegal, was on board the Mark Amy II trawler 14 miles west of Achill Island when he went overboard at around 10.20am.
The fisherman was recovered from the water by his colleagues and was taken to Sligo General Hospital by the coastguard helicopter but was pronounced dead on arrival.
It is understood that he became entangled in fishing gear. Weather conditions were gael force six to seven at the time, with a three-metre sea swell. The Marine Casualty Investigation Board is expected to launch an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the drowning.
This tragedy is the third fishing fatality suffered by the family of Mr McDaid, as he was the nephew of two brothers who drowned in Lough Foyle in 2008.
Daniel (70) and Francis (68) McDaid from Glengad lost their lives after their lobster boat sank in the lough in an incident that later became the subject of an investigation when their family claimed they were hit by another vessel.
Last July the Marine and Casualty Investigation Board found the brothers drowned when their boat encountered difficulties that were ‘sudden and without warning’ and rejected the family’s claims that a speed boat or cargo ship may have been involved in the drowning with the brothers’ nine-metre vessel.
Local county councillor Bernard McGuinness said the village of Culdaff is in disbelief at the latest tragedy to strike the McDaid family:
“People are just going around in a daze and can’t believe that this family has been struck by another tragedy. Cathal is the same age as my own son and he was a very nice lad. He spent some time in America but he was very well-known and liked in the town. We haven’t got the full details as to what exactly happened yet. People are just in shock.”