LAST UPDATE | 5 Jan 2020

THE SEARCH FOR a man on board a fishing boat that sank off the coast of Co Wexford has been stood down until tomorrow morning due to weather conditions. 

It is understood that two men were aboard the boat, one of whom was taken to University Hospital Waterford where he has since died.

The man in his 60s who died in the incident has been named locally as Joe Sinnott.

A major search operation took place today after the boat sank near Hook Head in the early hours of this morning. 

The search for the second man was stood down earlier this evening due to loss of light and an imminent weather warning, a spokesperson for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) confirmed. 

A Status Yellow wind warning will be in place for Wexford from 3am tomorrow morning until 11am.

The search is expected to resume between 8am and 9am tomorrow.

No further discoveries were made in today’s search, a spokesperson for the RNLI said this evening.

Gardaí and the Coast Guard received reports that the trawler was missing shortly after midnight, before the RNLI and Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 117 were dispatched to the scene south of Dunmore East in Co Waterford.

With reporting by Orla Dwyer.