Looking back... Search operation launched after man is spotted wading into the sea

The man, who was believed to have been in his forties, had been last seen wading into the sea fully-clothed at Whitehouse.

An RAF helicopter and boats were deployed in the search.

Billy Adair, a boatman at Belfast Yacht Club, told the Larne Times that he had spoken to the man, who said that he had wanted to go for a swim.

Mr Adair said that he had first seen the man waist-deep in water and out quite a distance in the lough, but when he returned from contacting police, the water had been up to the man’s neck and within a few seconds, he had disappeared.