TWO BROTHERS WHO died in a diving incident in Tipperary yesterday have been named locally as 43-year-old Fergus Brophy and 34-year-old Philip Brophy. 

The brothers died yesterday while diving at the Portroe Dive Centre, located at Portroe Quarry, at around 1.30pm. 

It’s understood that gardaí are treating the incident as a “tragic accident”. 

According to reports one of the men got into difficulty in the water and his sibling entered the water to try to help.

The men were both experienced divers and were among the first customers to attend the dive centre, which re-opened on Saturday after being forced to close because of the pandemic. 

Local non-party 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,” Morris added.

The two men’s bodies were removed from the scene yesterday to University of Limerick where post mortems are expected to take place. 

With reporting from Dominic McGrath