Ross IRWIN


*Photo here is of Gay Irwin, Ross' wife

'They've given up on my missing husband'
30.04.2006 By Damian Bathersby - Sunshine Coast Daily

THE wife of Nambour fisherman Ross Irwin has begged Sunshine Coast boat owners to launch a search for her husband after a dive crew yesterday failed to find any trace of him in the wreckage of his sunken trawler.

A week after her husband went missing when the Lauren G sank about 40 nautical miles off Noosa, a distraught Gay Irwin is still clinging to the slim hope he survived the sinking and is waiting for rescuers to find him.

Mr Irwin’s two crew members were rescued by another trawler after their boat’s nets became snagged on something beneath the surface and the trawler was flipped by a wave.

An extensive search of the area failed to find any sign of 49-year-old Mr Irwin and it was widely believed the experienced skipper had become trapped in the wheelhouse and gone down with the trawler.
In a desperate call to the Daily last night, Mrs Irwin said she felt deserted by emergency services who abandoned their ocean search early in the week.

“My husband would be shocked if he knew how abandoned we all feel – how everyone seems to have given up except us,” she said.

“We will never give up because we want him home.

“I just want him to call like he used to and say ‘come and pick me up’.

“That’s all I want and that’s all the boys want.”

Mrs Irwin said she and her sons – 11-year-old John and 10-year-old Aaron – had hardly left their house since Mr Irwin disappeared because they could not cope with peoples’ questions.

After contacting countless dive companies, she and her family finally found one willing to go down to the wreck but the divers from Brisbane firm Sub40 surfaced yesterday to report there was no sign of her husband.

Rallying the support of Coast boat owners was her last resort in the hunt for the man who had been her husband and best friend for 25 years, she said.

“They suspended the search and said it was too dangerous to dive on the wreck and that has left us absolutely nowhere.

“We don’t know where to turn and now that we know he was not in the trawler we just want to find him.

“I want to ask anyone with a small craft to help us today by having a look around – close to land on the rocks, along shoreline that the rescue boats haven’t been past.

“It’s a big ocean out there and he’s only been missing for a week.

“In my heart I am hoping he is still alive – we all are, in our hearts.”

Describing her husband as “a gorgeous man”, Mrs Irwin said he would have been the first one to volunteer in a search for anyone missing at sea.

“I’ve known that man for 25 years and have never known him to do a wrong thing to anybody.

“You would hear that from everybody he knew.

“We have run out of ideas and just hope normal people out there with boats will do what Ross would have done and try to find him for us.”

Salute to missing trawler operator
10.05.2006 By KATHY SUNDSTROM - Sunshine Coast Daily

THE early morning rescue of the trapped miners in Tasmania provided some solace for the family and friends of missing fisherman Ross “Footy” Irwin before they said a final goodbye.
More than 200 people gathered at the Kawana Surf Club for a memorial service to their mate, who disappeared at sea when his trawler sank 40 nautical miles off Noosa on April 21.

Ross’s brother, John, said the safe recovery of Brant Webb and Todd Russell was welcome news for Ross’s wife, Gay. “She was really pleased to watch the miners being rescued, it was a good way to start the day,” he said.

Gay has continually hoped for her own miracle – the safe return of her husband, best friend and father to sons John, 12, and Aaron, 10.
But more than two weeks have passed since Ross’s disappearance and the family has come to accept the chances of him ever being found were remote.

“We’ve had to accept this. It hasn’t been easy, but we needed to have a memorial service as some sort of closure,” John said.

Two fishermen survived the trawler accident, but Ross – better known as Footy for his resemblance to the character from Footrot Flats – has never been found.

A dive mission to search the sunken trawler also yielded no results.

“We had pinned a lot of our hopes that he would be found in the dive mission and it was very disappointing when he wasn’t, but that’s life I guess,” said John. “The good thing is he loved the sea and he was doing something he loved.”

Many friends paid tribute to Ross at the service.

Close friend Karen Lincoln said there was only one word to describe Ross – proud.

“He was proud of his family, the way he did his job and he was proud of himself and the things he accomplished.

“Thank you Footy, and please look over our men and keep the rest of them safe while at sea.”

Roy Orbison’s classic hit Crying Over You played over the speakers during the final tribute as Ross’s mates lit 21 flares in a “21 flare salute” to honour the experienced trawler skipper. Black and white balloons were released.

Although the community reluctantly accepted that Ross was unlikely to be found, his family face a battle to convince insurance companies.

But they did receive some good news this week.

“We initially thought there might be a seven-year wait, but the water police and our solicitors have now said it shouldn’t be more than a year,” John said.

Independent Trawlers Association spokesperson Vicki Burnett said the group had placed 20 tins across the Sunshine Coast for a collection for Ross and his family.

“Without a body they can’t access insurance funds which makes it very difficult as they’ve still got a mortgage to pay and bills to meet.”

Donations can also be made at any ANZ bank.