A man in his fifties has drowned after he fell from a boat off Cromane Bay in Killorglin in Co Kerry.
The man got in to difficulty in the water on Sunday evening. Gardaí and the emergency services were called to the scene. He was taken from the water shortly after 10pm yesterday. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
The man was taken by ambulance to the mortuary in University Hospital Kerry. A file will be prepared for the Coroner. An inquest will be heard at a later date.
Meanwhile, four people have drowned since the start of the warm spell last week. In total, more than 1,100 people have drowned in Ireland over the course of the last decade.
Minister for the Environment, Climate, Communications and Transport Eamon Ryan has urged people to exercise caution as they enjoy the good weather. In an interview with RTÉ Radio 1 on Sunday, Minister Ryan offered his condolences to the families of those lost by drowning in recent days. He appealed to the public to make every effort to be safe.
“Be careful, don’t go into waters that you don’t know how safe they are, stay close to the shore, look after each other, we don’t want another tragic loss,” Mr Ryan said.