The search for the second missing swimmer in Galway resumed this morning. 

Yesterday, a rescue operation was launched along the city’s Silver Strand after two people went missing. 

The body of a man in his 70s was found and he has since been named as singer-songwriter Johnny Duhan. 

A woman in her 30s is still missing and on Newstalk Breakfast, Media West Ireland journalist John Fallon said the search was due to begin again at “first light” this morning. 

“It continued right throughout the night,” he said. 

“Travelling back out from Galway City last night, you could see numerous people with torches searching the shoreline and that continued right out along to Bearna - which was at the centre of this incident.”

Mr Duhan was known to be a “daily swimmer” in the Silver Strand area and the beach is a popular place for locals even in winter. 

“When the alarm was raised, shortly afterwards it emerged there was a second person also missing - a woman in her early 30s from nearby Spiddal,” Mr Fallon said. 

“She hadn’t shown up for work and that raised concern and her car was located there. 

“Like Johnny Duhan, she was also a regular swimmer at that point and the search for her will resume at Silver Strand where there will be a control point.”

Weather conditions

Mr Fallon said the weather in Galway remains foggy but sometimes it briefly lifts. 

“Other times, you can’t see more than a couple of feet in front of you,”Mr Fallon said. 

“That has certainly impacted on the search for both people since this incident started early yesterday morning.” 

Gardaí are treating it as two separate incidents and it is not thought that the two swimmers were known to each other. 

“[Gardaí] - like everyone else - don’t know what happened,” Mr Fallon said. 

“There’s no suggestion either person was known to each other. 

“It’s quite a popular area where people go for a quick swim before going to work each morning.”

No areas have been discounted as the search continues.

Main shows a split of Johnny Duhan and the Silver Strand. Image by: Johnny Duhan website and Alamy.com.