TWO MEN ARE safely back on land after the fishing boat they were travelling in capsized in Tralee Bay off the coast of Kerry yesterday afternoon.

One man managed to make it ashore to raise the alarm. He was showing signs of hypothermia and was kept warm at the Fenit lifeboat station until an ambulance arrived.

Two lifeboats were launched in an effort to locate the missing man, who was still in the water. He was pulled onto the Fenit inshore lifeboat after being spotted when he rose to the top of a 20 foot swell. He was transferred to the all-weather lifeboat before being taken ashore and transferred to hospital.

Fenit RNLI Lifeboat Operations Manager Ger O’Donnell has said that the first man was very lucky to make it ashore to raise the alarm, as the men had not been reported missing. Both men were wearing lifejackets.

Meanwhile six people, who had been out on a diving expedition, were rescued after their boat capsized at the mouth of the River Bann near Castlerock in Co. Derry.

The BBC reports that the Irish Coastguard helicopter and two RNLI lifeboats attended the scene. A member of the public had raised the alarm.

Five of the divers had stayed with the overturned inflatable boat, while another was rescued from the water.

One of the boats used in yesterday’s rescue by Fenit RNLI. Crew members involved were John Gaff Moriarty, Kevin Honeyman, John Williams, Nial Hickey, John McGibney, Kevin Moriarty, Terry Sheehy, Kevin Deady, and Stephen O’Sullivan. Image: John Williams