Three fishermen saved in dramatic rescue effort
Three fisherman have been dramatically rescued after their trawler lost power in a storm off the Cork coast.
The incident happened near Kinsale this evening.
The 20 foot vessel got into difficulty close to the entrance to Kinsale harbour, and the three man crew issued a mayday as she drifted close to rocks.
They were forced to abandon the vessel, but were rescued by the local RNLI and coastguard crews, with support from the coastguard helicopter.
All three - believed to have been Portuguese - were brought to Kinsale, but were unhurt.
Meanwhile, the same storm has led to widespread flooding across the county with flash flooding reported in Skibbereen and some city streets under water again tonight at high tide.
Kinsale RNLI Helm Nick Searls, speaking about the rescue, said: "Our priority was to get the crew safely off the trawler, which was complicated by the breaking waves coming over the top of the boat.
"We needed to manoeuvre the lifeboat in as close as possible to the stricken trawler so that the three fishermen could individually jump into the water to be recovered immediately by the lifeboat crew.
"The fishermen were wearing lifejackets and the operation to recover all three of them onto the lifeboat was successful."
The three rescued men lost all their personal belongings and RNLI volunteers issued an appeal to the local community in Kinsale for clothing and shoes for the men. The station also received several offers of accommodation.
