Seven men still missing and feared drowned off south coast

Seven fishermen remain missing and feared drowned off the south coast following the sinking of two fishing vessels in recent days.

Rescuers spent all day yesterday searching for the five-man crew of the Pere Charles, which sank three miles from Hook Head in Wexford at around 6pm on Wednesday.

It also emerged last night that a second vessel - the Honeydew II - had sank near Mine Head on the Waterford coast in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Concerns were expressed when the boat failed to return to port in Kinsale.

Two Lithuanian crew men from the vessel were rescued from a life-raft last night after spending up to 20 hours at sea in stormy conditions.

However, the Irish skipper and a Polish crewman are still missing.

Lifeboats, coastguard helicopters and local vessels are all involved in the search and rescue operation, while navy and garda divers are also on standby to search the seabed when the weather improves.

Rescuers say they fear the worst as the chances of the missing fishermen surviving at sea are virtually nil.