Two people on a fishing boat were rescued by a RNLI lifeboat in near gale force winds off the West Cork coast early this morning.
The Castletownbere RNLI lifeboat was launched in Force 7 winds to assist the vessel, which was taking water and without power.
The lifeboat volunteer crew took off at 4.30am with a four to five metre swell reported at the time.
Another fishing boat was standing by on scene, south of Blackball Head off the Beara peninsula.
The lifeboat crew managed to attach a towline to the fishing boat in "challenging conditions", the RNLI said in a statement.
The crew proceeded to tow the vessel back to Castletownbere harbour where a local tug assisted with berthing the boat at the pier, the RNLI said.
The lifeboat was refuelled and ready for service again by 8.20am.
Brendan O'Neil from the Castletownbere RNLI Lifeboat Launching Authority said: "Given the poor weather conditions, the crew aboard the fishing boat made the correct decision to call for help immediately and we are glad that everyone is now ashore safe and well."
