Search stood down for missing fisherman off Wicklow coast

A search off the Co Wicklow coast for a man who fell overboard from a small fishing vessel on Wednesday morning has been stood down for the evening.

The Coast Guard received a call at 9.20am alerting them to the incident which took place about 6.5km east of Kilmichael Point .

The man who fell overboard was part of a crew of three on the small, Irish fishing boat.

The Coast Guard immediately sent the Waterford search and rescue helicopter and the Arklow lifeboat. It then tasked the Rosslare lifeboat and later the Wicklow lifeboat to the search.

The search continued through they day with the Waterford helicopter returning to base to be replaced by the Dublin search and rescue helicopter.

A spokesman for the Coast Guard said search conditions had been reasonable, with a force four wind blowing from the west. He said the presence of a strong tidal flow could make the search a bit more challenging.

The search will resume at first light on Thursday morning.