Teens who drowned in Donegal had entered water to retrieve football

RTÉ News​

11-05-2025

Two teenagers who died after getting into difficulty in the sea off the coast of Buncrana, Co Donegal had entered the water to retrieve a football, according to a local councillor.
The alarm was raised yesterday afternoon after three teenagers got into difficulty while swimming near Ned's Point just outside the town.
A 16-year-old boy was taken from the sea after a search operation, but subsequently died in hospital in the early hours of this morning.
The body of an 18-year-old man was recovered from the water shortly before 10pm last night.
A third teenage boy managed to swim ashore following the incident. Gardaí have said he "is in no danger and should make a full recovery".
Sinn Féin's Jack Murray said the community in Buncrana is "absolutely devastated" following the deaths of the teens.
He said they were International Protection applicants who had entered the water to retrieve a football.
"I've just visited the IPAS centre and obviously they were loved because those people in that community are absolutely devastated.
"There's no words that you can describe how hurt everybody is - their community, our community. We're as one as we grieve this horrible news," he said.
"My understanding is they were playing football, the ball went into the water and they went in after the ball... just the innocence of kids playing football and this is the outcome.
"There's no words to describe how awful it is," he said.
"This town has not been immune from tragedies in the past has been visited with another horrendous tragedy but this community will stand together.
"There's a prayer service arranged for 4pm and I know the town will fill that chapel... It's horrendous, but we'll get through this together," he said.