Missing yachtsman: Appeal for public to help with shore search in Connemara

Members of the public in Galway are urged to assist in a shore search which will get under way on Saturday morning in Carna for a man who was reported missing off Cruach na Cara in Connemara on Thursday.

A multi agency search operation for a man named locally as Conor McLoughlin continued on Friday. When he was last seen he was wearing a navy hat with a red band, a green sweater under black salopettes and tan Dubarry sailing boots.

The shore search at low tide will get under way at 11am on Saturday. Mr McLoughlin and his wife Bernadette are members of Foynes Yacht Club on the Shannon Estuary in Co Limerick.

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The alarm was raised shortly after 6.15pm on Thursday with gardaí and the Irish Coast Guard receiving reports that a man had entered the water from a boat off the coast of Carna.

It is understood that Mr McLoughlin got in to difficulty in the water while attempting to retrieve a dinghy which had become detached from the yacht he was sailing with his wife.

Units for the Coastguard and the RNLI, Clifden and Aran Island lifeboat stations and Cleggan and Costello Bay Coast Guard have taken part in the search.

The Irish Coast Guard helicopters from Shannon and Sligo and Gardaí have also participated in the search. Other local vessels have also combed the area in a voluntary capacity.

Searches resumed on Friday at first light and will continue on Saturday morning.

Divisional Controller for Valentia Marine Rescue Co Ordination Centre John Draper said that they received a mayday call from the wife of the missing man.

“The call came from the man’s wife. They had anchored their yacht just on the eastern side of (Cruach na Cara). Unfortunately, the dinghy from the yacht had drifted off in the current, and the gentleman swam after the dinghy.

“He had got into difficulty, and it was then that the gentleman’s wife called to Valentia Coast Guard to initiate a search after that.”