THE body of a man who went out fishing from Castletownbere on Monday night has been recovered.

The remains of a local inshore fisherman, who failed to return back to base last night, was recovered shortly before 8.30am this morning.

Lifeboat operations manager, Paul Stevens, told The Southern Star: 'This is a very sad time for the local community. We are all thinking of his family.'

The man, who is in his 50s but has yet to be named, had gone out fishing on Monday evening, but the alarm was raised at 7am this morning.

Valentia Coast Guard tasked Castletownbere RNLI and its rescue helicopter to respond to the emergency after it was reported that some debris was found in the water shortly before 7.30am.

Some local punts and other boats had been out searching for the fishermen and one person in a punt located the man's body.

The RNLI recovered his body and brought him to shore. Local gardaí and medical personnel also responded and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

The man's remains were taken to Cork University Hospital, where a post mortem will take place.