Drone technology is being utilised amidst ongoing efforts by the Irish Coast Guard, assisting police in the recovery of a 12-year-old boy’s body at the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, following a suspected fall last Tuesday. The young boy was reported lost by his family, thought to be foreign visitors, after losing sight of him around 2pm at the well-known tourist spot.
The rescue operation, co-led by the Valentia-based Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Centre, commenced a thorough search via land, sea and air, involving volunteers from the Doolin Coast Guard Unit, supplemented by the Shannon-operated Coast Guard helicopter R115. Other local Coast Guard Units are also lending support to the search operation.
The main search extends around the Cliffs of Moher and further into the surrounding maritime areas, including Galway Bay and the Aran Islands. The next few days will see this search persist with the involvement of Coast Guard Units from Doolin, Cleggan, Inisheer, Costelloe Bay, Killaloe and helicopter R115.
There is indication that drones provided by the Civil Defence will commence their aerial inspection following an appeal by police.
Furthermore, there were separate incidents on the same cliffs recently. On the 5th of July, Lochlann Murray (17), from Crossmaglen, Armagh, succumbed after falling from the Cliffs of Clare. A painstaking search led to the recovery of his body by the Rockcorry Divers and North Coast Search and Recovery team. In an unrelated incident in May, a 20-year-old Belgian medical student, studying in Edinburgh, Scotland, tragically lost her life after stepping back to allow tourists to pass and losing her balance.