'It seems one went to help the other' - Heartbroken family of two brothers who died in Tipperary diving accident

Fergus Brophy (42) and his younger brother Philip (34) had gone to the Portroe dive centre near Nenagh yesterday morning to try out a new underwater scooter.

The water at the old quarry, now converted into a dive centre, is up to 40m deep and is used as a diving and training centre by divers from all over the country.

It had reopened yesterday for the first time since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted.

Today at the family home in the quiet and rural townland of Lough in Co Laois, close to the town of Portarlington, Fergus and Philip’s family were trying to come to grips with the loss.

The two men are survived by their parents Dinah and Seamus, their brothers James and Patrick, sister Emma, and Fergus’s wife Michelle.

Fergus and Michelle lived in nearby Ballybrittas, while Philip lived in the family home in Lough.

“They were both very experienced divers and had dived at that location for many years,” their mother Dinah told Independent.ie.

“We got the call from the gardai yesterday. We were out at the time. We got an awful shock,” she added.

“We don’t know what happened yet, only what we’ve heard in the news and read in the papers,” said Patrick.

“It seems one went to help the other. We just don’t know yet,” said the mens’ father Seamus.

James Brophy explained that he was with Fergus when he first got the bug for diving while they were on holiday in Mexico around ten years ago.

“It was one of those things you do on holiday. You pay your $80 or whatever and you go on a trip to do a dive. I wasn’t that into it, I felt a bit claustrophobic, but Fergus loved it, it left an impression on him and he got the bug for it,” said James.

“Then he took it up as a hobby when we got home, and his love for it rubbed off on Philip and he started it too,” he added.

“Fergus was the second eldest, and Philip was the youngest. He was the baby,” Seamus Brophy explained.

Early indications are that Fergus surfaced at the dive centre yesterday at around 1.30pm but then went unconscious and died.

He was taken from the surface of the water and Philip’s body was then recovered by divers from under the surface.

Members of Killaloe Coast Guard, who were returning to their base from another call-out, immediately responded to the alert at the quarry.

The Coast Guard Search and Rescue Helicopter, based at Shannon Airport, was also tasked to respond to the emergency.

“They both had great experience at the diving, and went on dives in places like Malta and Egypt,” said Dinah.

“Philip was big into his fitness. He spent eight years in Brazil and had run triathlons there and did an Ironmman event in Nice,” she added.

Not only did Fergus and Philip share a love for diving, they also both worked as engineers for Vodafone.

“Philip had been working from home recently because of the Covid lockdown,” said Dinah.

“They were great lads. They were never any bother. It’s of some comfort that they were with each other when this happened,” said Seamus.

The Brophy family are now waiting for the post mortems to take place at Limerick University Hospital.

“We can’t make any funeral arrangements yet until they are done,” said Seamus.

Meanwhile, the communities of Lough, Portarlington and Ballybrittas in Co Laois were gathering to comfort the Brophy family who are well known and respected in the locality.

Gardai are investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the two men, but are treating the incident as a tragic accident.

A spokesman for the Health and Safety Authority said it was "looking into the circumstances of the tragedy" as it occurred at a workplace.

However, the workplace safety regulator will be involved only if employees of the facility were involved in the incident.

Local Independent councillor Seamus Morris described the incident as "a tragedy for the men's families and all involved at the dive centre.

"As a dive centre, it's used by local divers and it has always been very professionally run. Obviously, my sympathies go to the men's families and the dive club.

"I don't know what happened, but diving is a sport that, unfortunately, has serious consequences if things don't go right," Mr Morris added.

Officials from the dive centre declined to comment last night.

A post on its Facebook page last week announced that the centre was due to reopen at the weekend, after having closed in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to its website, Portroe Quarry is "one of the best inland dive locations in Ireland" and is "always diveable regardless of weather conditions".