Irish Naval vessels have joined the search for Daniel Doherty following an appeal from his family.

Daniel, 23, has been missing since Friday.

It’s thought that he got into difficulty on Friday evening as he was baiting lobster pots.

His 30ft half-decker, Carra Rose, was found on its side with its lights on at a beach close to Benwee Head, County Mayo, Ireland, shortly before 9pm on Friday.

An extensive search has been ongoing since the alarm was raised by local fisherman, including the RNLI, coastguard and the local dive club.

Now the Irish Navy have become involved, following a request from the family.

Daniel’s aunt, Herta Doherty, said it was important to the family to have the Navy assist.

“Weather conditions are perfect here for searching at the moment. Crucially, the conditions at sea are perfect for diving. This is a crucial time when we could find Daniel,” she said.

Ms Doherty went on thank the volunteers who have helped the search for Daniel so far.

“Hundreds and hundreds of people are involved in the sea and on land covering a vast area from Downpatrick’s Head all the way across to Erris Head”.

“If love and care and kindness and hard work and man power and good will could bring Daniel back, we’d have him here with us,” she told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

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