An injured fisherman has been airlifted to hospital following a three hour rescue mission off the West Coast.
He was on board a fishing trawler, almost 300 kilometres west of Loop Head in Clare.
The alarm was raised around 9 o'clock this morning after a man on board a fishing trawler got into difficulty off the West Coast.
The Shannon based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, flew the long range medevac through conditions described as challenging, with winds excedding 56 kilometres per hour.
The fishing trawler was almost 300 kilomtres west of Loop Head in Co Clare at the time.
The injured sailor was flown to the helicopter base at Shannon where an ambulance was standing by and transferred to University Hosptial Limerick for treatment around noon today.
The operation was coordinated by watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry.
