Updated 6.35pm

TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to a 28-year-old soldier whose body was recovered off the coast of Donegal after he got into difficulty while swimming earlier this week.

Gavin Carey, a member of the Irish Defence Forces, had been swimming off Bundoran on Tuesday evening with a group of fellow soldiers. The other four men in his group made it to safety with the help of local surfers.

Divers from Boyne Fisherman’s Rescue and Recovery, who travelled to Donegal to offer their assistance yesterday evening, recovered a body earlier today.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny extended his sympathies to the man’s family and to his colleagues from the 2 Brigade Artillery Regime at Custume Barracks, Athlone.

“Gavin served his country with pride and in the unheralded manner he and all his colleagues go about their business,” Kenny said.

At the time of his death, he was in the process of completing a training course prior to his scheduled deployment overseas, to Lebanon. A further reminder of the duties soldiers undertake on all our behalves.

Defence Forces Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett DSM, also offered his condolences to Corporal Carey’s family and friends:

“My thoughts and sympathies are with Corporal Gavin Carey’s family and friends at this very difficult time. As a soldier, he espoused the values we as an organisation hold dear. I would like to thank each of the agencies that helped with the search. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.”

Read: Search resumes for man in his 20s who got into difficulty swimming off Donegal coast>