Two men have been rescused but a third man is missing after a boat capsized on Lough Ree in Co Roscommon.
A group of fishermen set off in two small Dory boats from the pier at Hodson Bay amid windy conditions today.
The group, understood to be from Co Armagh, had told locals of their plans to camp overnight on the lakeshore at Carna a few kilometres from Hodson Bay.
Richie O’Hara of Baysports said “two of the party came into our centre at about 4.30pm and they were quite concerned about three of their party who they were meant to meet.”
Mr O’Hara immediately called the emergency services who had already been notified. A short time later, he said, “the lifeboat came into the harbour here and they had a casualty on board.”
The man, who appeared to be in his 50s and was suffering from hypothermia, was treated by the emergency services while the RNLI lifeboat went back out to search for more casualties.
Mr O’Hara said the lifeboat returned with a second casualty, who appeared to be in his 30s and was unresponsive.
Both men were taken to hospital in Ballinasloe, Co Galway, where the second man is believed to be in a very serious condition.
Despite an extensive search by the Air Corps, RNLI and others the third man was not located this evening and fears are growing for his safety.
Members of the Athlone Sub Aqua club returned to Hodson Bay shortly after 7pm. The boat was laden with fishing equipment but the members of the crew had not sighted the boat.
Athlone Sub Aqua’s Derry McMahon described conditions as “very rough” with a strong westerly wind.
“We started searching areas down wind from the search area and followed the debris footprint...the helicopter was picking out the debris field,” he explained.