Five fishermen from Cork and Kerry were rescued in two separate operations off the south-west coast yesterday when a trawler caught fire and another trawler suddenly sank - all in the space of an hour.
Four crewmen on board the Emerald Isle had to take to a life raft when a fire broke out on their boat at around 4 p.m. while they were fishing some four miles south-east of the Galley Head in west Cork.
The four were picked up by another trawler, the Holly Jo, which brought them to Union Hall.
Meanwhile a lone fisherman on board the Snave had a lucky escape when his boat sank suddenly in Smerwick Harbour at around 5 p.m. He was picked up by the Dingle vessel, Liberty.