Relief and agony as Willie’s body recovered
AFTER a 20 day wait Willie Whelan’s family were overwhelmed when his remains were recovered from his trawler The Alize and returned to shore on Friday.
Hook Sub Aqua Club members got to the wreck – some 60 metres below sea level – on Wednesday morning and returned with the news that the remains of the 41-year-old Saltmills man were in the vessel which was on its side on the sea floor.
Willie went missing on the night of January 4 while out fishing for scallops with Joe Sinnott. Mr Sinnott’s remains were discovered near where the Alize sank and he was laid to rest in his native village of Kilmore Quay as the search continued for Willie in often difficult conditions due to Storm Brendan’s arrival.
Speaking on Friday morning as his son’s remains were being brought ashore, Willie’s father Joe said: ‘He will be going on the lifeboat and then will go to Waterford for a post mortem,’
Joe, Willie’s stepmother Maggie, wife Mandy and brothers Joseph, Malcolm and Ciaran were in the watchtower of Hook Lighthouse when they were told that his body had been located at around 10.30 a.m.
‘I was very upset. We were hugging each other. It was more shock than anything else,’ he said.
Specialist Naval Service divers staged numerous dives at the site on Thursday – assisted by members of the Garda Underwater Unit and experienced members of Wexford Sub Aqua
Clubs with the Coast Guard providing support on site.
Divers used the Irish Lights Vessel Granuaile as an operations platform with dives focused on clearing a path to the interior compartments of the wrecked trawler to allow the remains to be safely accessed and recovered.
The Naval Service assigned the LE James Joyce to support the recovery operation and special remotely operated underwater vehicles were used by divers to scan the seabed in the area where the 12 metre trawler Alize foundered.
The search operation was also supported by the Waterford-based Coast Guard helicopter and the Air Corps CASA marine surveillance aircraft.
Joe, who runs M&J Fish with his wife Maggie, said he can never convey how grateful he is to the Hook Sub Aqua Club members, to the staff of the three naval ships involved in the search and to everyone in the gardaí, the local RNLI crews and the fishermen for their efforts in the search.
‘What they did means everything to us. To see a local community respond like that.’
Maggie said: ‘Willie is home now. It’s like somebody has given us the Lotto.’
They said coming from a fishing background, they know families who have lost loved ones to the sea: people whose remains have never been recovered.
‘It was always at the back of our minds about Willie. We were trying to keep it out of it but the thought would still creep back into it that he would never be found.’
Maggie said she felt a huge weight lift off her shoulders, an indescribable relief when she was told Willie had been found.
‘We are working on autopilot. Willie is currently being brought ashore. Wednesday was a great day but today ranks even better. We have our Willie home. We are so grateful to everyone because they never stopped looking and we will never be able to thank people enough for what they are after doing for us.’
All of Willie’s family had been present on the coastline during the search, including his mother Breda, praying that his remains would be located.
She said: ‘You see things happening like this on the news and it isn’t until it comes to your own door that you realise how good people are. There are people you know and when it comes to fishing you might fight and backbite with one another but when something like this happens we just all stick together. We just couldn’t believe the numbers of people involved in the searches,’ Maggie said.
‘We are happy to have him home because he was such a jolly going fella. No matter who met him and who came in contact with him he had a smile on his face even if the whole world was on top of him it wouldn’t make any difference he’d just say: “ah sure it’s alright”.
Maggie and Joe thanked the garda divers for their efforts in getting a line down to the Alize and the members of Hook Sub Aqua Club involved in the dive on Friday.
‘It was a team effort from everybody and also our local politicians couldn’t do enough for us, especially former minister Hugh Byrne. Fr Michael Doyle was a very good support to us all.’
She said Willie had five magical years with Mandy. ‘The biggest dream he had was his wedding day. That was the happiest day of his life. They were just made for each other. He dreamed of starting a family and everything else but as Mandy said they had five years together during which they made many happy memories.’