Man who died in Donegal diving incident is named locally

Stephen Maguire

A diver who died tragically off the coast of Donegal on Saturday has been named locally as Patrick Doran.

Mr Doran, who was in his 40s, was originally from Leitrim Village in Co Leitrim.

He was one of more than 100 divers from across the country who took part in a planned two-day event organised by the Donegal Bay Sub Aqua Club.

The event, the North West Dive Rally, had planned a number of dives on Saturday and Sunday at Malin Beg and Sliabh Liag.

However, around midday on Saturday the alarm was raised after two divers got into difficulty.

A major search and rescue operation was launched which was co-ordinated by the Malin Head Coastguard Station.

The operation involved a number of agencies including the Killybegs Coast Guard, An Garda Siochana, the National Ambulance Service, shore crews and also the Rescue 118 helicopter.

Hope turned to despair however, when one missing diver was recovered from the sea and pronounced dead at the scene.

A second diver who was also missing managed to get to the surface.

He was treated at the scene and immediately rushed to University Hospital in Galway for treatment.

The man, who is in his 60s, was treated for decompression sickness known as the bends.

Shockwaves

The tragedy has sent shockwaves through the local community of south Donegal.

Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council and local Killybegs-based county councillor Niamh Kennedy said her heart "missed a beat" when she heard of the tragedy.

She said "When you live in a coastal area you are always weary of the dangers the sea poses and, unfortunately, tragedy has visited us once more.

"It is only when a tragedy like this visits your community that you realise how dangerous the sea really is. My heart missed a beat when I heard this awful news.

"Our hearts go out to this man and his poor family and all that they are going through. We pray for them and we pray for the second man who was thankfully rescued and we hope that he will make a full recovery.

"My thoughts too are with the Donegal Bay Sun Aqua Club who hosted this event and we hope that they are not suffering too much."

Councillor Kennedy also paid tribute to all those who took part in the search and rescue mission.

She said,"We have to pay tribute to all these volunteers who risk their own lives in these circumstances and every time something tragic like this happens.

"We sometimes forget about them when tragedies happen, but we would be lost without them and I want to pay tribute to each one of them who was there yesterday."