A man died yesterday after he was swept into the sea off the Blasket Islands, Co Kerry, as he boarded a yacht returning to the coast. He had been on a birdwatching trip with a friend on Inishtooskert.
Gardai last night named him as Mr Barry Stanford (50), a local man from Smerwick. The friend managed to swim to safety.
Mr Stanford was hit by a wave and washed out to sea. He was wearing a life jacket, and was in the water for over an hour before being found by the Marine Rescue Service helicopter.
In a statement yesterday evening, the Department of the Marine said sea conditions at the time were "horrendous" and the helicopter encountered strong headwinds en route to the incident. The statement said they located the injured man and had him on board within 11 minutes. He was brought to Tralee General Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly after 12 o'clock.