1996/99
For up to date news visit the Connaught Telegraph website.
SURVIVORS OF CAVE TRAGEDY RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AS...
29 October 1997
Mayo mourns "hero" diver
By Tom Sheil
A young father and husband who paid the ultimate price in trying to save lives in a dark, wave-lashed cave on the north Mayo coast early last Saturday was mourned by thousands last night (Tuesday) as his remains were brought to St. Muredach's Cathedral in his native Ballina.
Parish Priest, Fr. Michael Flynn, who received the remains of 38 year old Michael Heffernan from nearby Carrowkelly, said earlier: "I knew Michael well. He was totally unselfish both as a family man and a member of the community. He was also good to his mother, Mary, who lives at Morrison Terrace."
Fr. Flynn added: "When the emergency call came on Saturday he responded as he always did without a thought for his own safety".
The Bishop of Killala, Dr. Thomas Finnegan was amongst the flood of callers to the Heffernan home since Sunday to offer sympathy to Ann-Marie Heffernan, her young daughter, and other relatives.
Mrs. Heffernan, whose late husband worked at the Asahi plant in Killala, is expecting another child soon.
She was being comforted by relatives yesterday and was said by a family member to be "bearing up well considering the awful circumstances.".
It was the second tragedy to hit the Heffernan family- a younger brother died in tragic circumstances earlier this year.
FUNERAL TODAY
Mr. Heffernan will be laid to rest today (Wednesday) but no firm arrangements have yet been made for the funeral of the second man to die in the Belderrig tragedy, German Will Ernest von Below (53), who was known locally as Mart Mortenson.
Mr. Mortenson, a leading community worker and a member of the Mayo 2,000 lobby group, was drowned when his currach got into difficulties in a narrow cove at Benwee Head.
Three members of the local Murphy family, Tony, Carmel and a 13 year old daughter, Emma, survived. When their boat capsized they stayed above the water and were washed up on the rocks.
They were rescued some 17 hours later by members of the Garda sub-aqua team after an earlier rescue attempt by members of the Grainne -Uaile sub-aqua club was abandoned following the death of Mr. Heffernan.
The Murphys, who were extremely shocked after their ordeal, were expected to be released from Sligo General Hospital yesterday.
BRAVERY PRAISED
Members of the Garda Sub-Aqua team, meanwhile, have been praising the bravery of the Murphys especially Mr. Murphy who had the presence of mind to build a protective wall of stone at the back of the cave when the family were washed up on rocks by the sea.
The Garda divers described conditions in the cave as "savage" and explained that reflective strips on the Murphys' life jackets were crucial to the three lives being saved.
Garda diver Dave Mulhall said when he and two colleagues initially tried to get into the cave they were driven back by the waves. They then decided to take in a small inflatable craft to get the family out but were driven to the back of the cave where their boat was smashed against the rocks.
The rescue team was met with "sheer delight" by the Murphys who did not realise at that stage that another diver had lost his life in an earlier attempt to rescue them.
The diver who clinched the rescue was Garda Ciaran Doyle who swam from the inflatable with a lifebuoy to where the family was huddled.
Apart from the Garda and Grainne-Uaile divers, the crew
of Ballyglass lifeboat; a coast and cliff rescue unit from
Achill; members of Ballina fire brigade; the crews of Air
Corps and Irish Marine Rescue helicopters; staff from the
North -Western Regional Fisheries Board and dozens of local
people helped out in the emergency.
