A man in his 50s has died after getting into difficulty in the water at Castletownbere.

Valentia Coast Guard coordinated the emergency response, following notification from the National Ambulance Service, with the local Coast Guard Unit and the RNLI all-weather lifeboat deployed to the scene at the pier in Castletownbere at 5.30pm on Saturday evening, where the Festival of the Sea was taking place.

The man was taken from the water in an unresponsive state and despite the efforts of the emergency responders the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

A spokesperson for An Garda Siochana said the man's body was removed to the mortuary at Cork University Hospital, where a post-mortem examination will be carried out.

Beara-based councillor and deputy mayor Finbarr Harrington said the entire community has been left feeling shocked and saddened by the tragedy. And he expressed his deepest sympathies to the man's family.