The search will continue today for a young boy reported missing in the vicinity of the Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare on Tuesday.
A land, air and sea search was mounted at around 2pm on Tuesday after the young boy, believed to be 12 years old, was reported missing by his family who are understood to be visiting from overseas.
It’s believed the boy had become separated from his family, who then tried to find him. When there was no sign of the child, they returned to the visitor centre and alerted staff there.
Gardaí were alerted initially, while the Irish Coast Guard was also requested to mobilise resources to assist with a search.
Watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue coordination centre on Valentia Island in Kerry mounted a multi-agency operation involving the Doolin unit of the Coast Guard, the Aran Islands RNLI lifeboat and the Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter.
The search continued for several hours, including around the base of the cliffs, but conditions were not safe for personnel to reach the shoreline to carry out a more detailed survey. The search was called off on Tuesday evening but resumed on Wednesday morning.
Doolin Coast Guard were joined by a drone team from Clare Civil Defence and divers from the Garda Water Unit. Rescue 115 also assisted during the afternoon.
Garda divers swam in towards the base of the cliff and carried out a comprehensive search. However, no trace of the boy was found.
The operation will resume later this morning with Coast Guard volunteers from Doolin continuing their clifftop search.
A drone team from Cleggan Coast Guard in Galway travelled to Clare to assist their Doolin colleagues.
Clare Civil Defence will also deploy their drones and will be joined by volunteers from two Cork units of the service and another from Kerry. Members of Galway and Mayo Civil Defence will carry out searches of the Galway Bay coastline as part of the ongoing operation.
The drone teams will search the coastline as the tide recedes. A low-tide is expected at around 2.30pm. As winds yesterday were southerly in direction, the shoreline search will be extended northwards further along the Cliffs of Moher and up the coast from Doolin.
The chief operations officer with the Coast Guard, Kevin Whitney, has said that conditions are improving, which will assist with recovery efforts at the Cliffs of Moher this afternoon.
The search will continue from low water at the base of the cliffs involving coast guard units supplemented with the helicopter and drones.
While conditions are improving the seas remain precarious, he told RTÉ radio’s News at One. The safety of all those involved in the search was why the coast guard was making use of drones as much as possible, he explained.
Search and recovery efforts are being concentrated on the area around the Cliffs of Moher visitor centre.
“We're widening the search a little bit, and, we're using some drift modeling software to place our assets in the best position and to make sure that we're using the assets as best as possible.”
