Fisherman airlifted to hospital off Clare coast
A fisherman has been airlifted to hospital after falling ill on board a fishing trawler off the Clare coast this afternoon.
The alarm was raised at around 9.45am when the Irish Coast Guard was alerted and requested to assist.
The 85-foot 'Arkh Angell', an Irish-registered fishing trawler, was about 40 kilometres west of Hags Head (Liscannor) at the time.
The Shannon-based search and rescue helicopter, Rescue 115, was engaged in another mission so the Sligo helicopter (Rescue 118) was requested to respond.
The Sligo crew reached the vessel at around 10.50am and spent almost 80 minutes on scene before the casualty was winched from the deck.
The man is understood to have been complaining of abdominal problems and was flown to University Hospital Galway for treatment.
Meanwhile, the crew of the Shannon helicopter was involved in a rescue operation in the Castletownshend area of West Cork.
The person was located and airlifted to Cork Airport where an ambulance was waiting to take the casualty to Cork University Hospital.
Both operations were coordinated by staff at the Irish Coast Guard marine rescue centre on Valentia Island in Kerry.
