No truth to the body on the boat story

June 1989

Did you hear the one about the Travellers who tried to bring a dead body home in one of their vans on board the Sealink ferry to Rosslare? If you didn’t, you are certainly in the minority, because it’s the story that was sweeping the pubs of Wexford town during the past week.

According to the yarn, a number of Travellers boarded the ferry in Fishguard, and refused to leave their vehicle when the ferry prepared to move off from the pier.

Eventually, when they were persuaded to get out, it was discovered that one of the passengers was actually dead.

Depending on who the teller is, further details about how the body was removed from the vehicle can be added, but that is the bulk of the story.

This newspaper this week made considerable attempts to get details on the incident. Our enquiries eventually led us to the Chief of the Harbour Police in Fishguard.

We detected more than a hint of a laugh when we explained our query. Then, in his heavy Welsh accent, the officer explained that no, he hadn’t heard anything about a body on a ship.

‘The only thing out of the ordinary that has happened around here in the past week is that one of your countrymen went a bit wild breaking windows, including a few in the Police Station,’ he said.

The moral of the story: don’t believe everything you hear in the pub!