A vigil has been held in Limerick city for the two Afghani sea anglers who drowned off rocks near Doonbeg in Co Clare on March 31st.
As RTÉ News reports, the two men have been named locally as brothers Tajuddin Safi, believed to be in his 30s, and Salahuddin Safi, recently married and in his 20s.
Both men were members of the Afghan community in Limerick and had been living and working there in the taxi and restaurant business for the past ten years.
Fianna Fáil councillor for Limerick Abul Kalam Azad Talukde has called on Clare County Council to erect more signage in the area to make people aware of the dangers and said it is important that the local authority "identify all the dangerous places so we do not lose anyone again".
John Lannon, chief executive of Doras, said he had known one of the two men and expressed his sympathies to all the families.
Lannon told RTÉ that Limerick's Afghan community is "very vibrant".
The Safi brothers "presented what's so great about migration and about integration and about the manner in which people who come from other parts of the world make a new life for themselves here in our country".
The two men were among a group of five who travelled to Clare to participate in sea angling.
Irish Coast Guard divisional controller for Valentia John Draper said that watch officers had received a call from the Gardai at 2.15 pm on Tuesday.
It was at the Blue Pool just beyond Doonbeg, and sea conditions were “extremely turbulent at the base of the cliff”.
He said the chances of survival for anyone entering the water would have been extremely difficult.
The initial call …maybe due to language difficulties…certainly said it was away from the area,”he said, but a call back was able to identify the correct area before resources arrived on scene.
The Irish Coast Guard Shannon-based helicopter, the RNLI Aran lifeboat, Kilkee and Doolin Coast Guards, the Gardai, fire service and Civil Defence were tasked, and the bodies of the two men were recovered around 4pm by the Aran lifeboat.
Draper said it was a dangerous area, similarly to many areas up and down the coast.
Asked if there could be more done to prevent more accidents, Draper said “repetitious warnings” can help, and a national water safety warning would be issued in advance of the Easter bank holiday weekend.
