Members of Alpha Dive, Navan search the shoreline that is inaccessible by land
IT’S now three weeks since Kieran McAree went missing in the Lough Erne and his family, friends and volunteers have vowed never to give up until he is found.
The missing 23-year-old has not been seen since December 17 sparking a huge community effort involving hundreds of volunteers to help find him.
Kieran’s heartbroken parents Martin and Geraldine, brother Damien and sister Aisling have visited the lough everyday in hope that his body is recovered from the water.
The Monaghan man is believed to have entered the water close to where his Volkswagen Golf and some of his clothing were found.
The Round ‘O’ has been the focus point of the search but in recent days it has broadened to the islands beyond Devenish Island.
Throughout the last 21 days, the search operation has involved boats and specialist divers using sonar and thermal imaging equipment as well as police search dogs and the police helicopter.
Two experienced divers from the Boyne Fishermen Rescue and Recovery spoke of the huge community effort that has gone into finding this missing man.
Thomas Daly, who has over ten years diving experience and has been involved in five separate search and rescue operations in Enniskillen, said it was a difficult task.
“We dive three times a day for around 30 minutes per dive,” Thomas explained.
“When we arrive on scene we try to get as much information as possible, if there was anything left on the shore or where he was last seen and from there we study the river, the flow of the river, the eddy, the fast bits, the slow bits, if it’s water we have never been in before we probe the depth of it and from work out where our starting reference will be and work away from there.
“Today the sonar scanner was here and if the sonar picks up something that needs to be investigated and have a look we go down just to see and rule that possibility out.
“It picks up big rocks and tyres but unfortunately we haven’t found what we are looking for yet.
“The water is 5 degrees so it’s pretty cold, three days ago the visibility was almost two feet with a torch but today with nine inches to a foot, you could miss something by as little as six inches.
“We are trying to help the family and unfortunately it’s going on a little bit longer than we thought or hoped.
“I’ve been on searches in Enniskillen for 10 years and the people here are an unbelievable community during a tragedy like this, we are always well looked after. I’ve been here on five searches in the last ten years and people are just wonderful here.”
The search operation has included the PSNI, Irish Coast Guard helicopter, RNLI and others including North West Mountain Rescue, Erne Paddlers, Dundalk rescue, Foyle Rescue, Boyne Fishermen rescue and further volunteers from Fermanagh, Monaghan, Cavan and Leitrim as well as divers from Dundlak, Drogheda and Mayo.
Mick Rogers, who is a member of Alpha Dive in Navan, said: “We are searching the surface though the weather conditions aren’t great. Now that it’s 20 days, it’s more likely the unfortunate man is being offered up so that’s where we are hedging our bets.
“They have nearly exhausted the area where he entered, going on the assumption that he has been brought down by current and that’s where we concentrated our search. There’s lot of pools and possibility he’s there.”
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