A Belfast man was bitten by blue shark while fishing off the coast of Cork on Saturday evening.

The man sustained a serious lower arm injury while deep-sea angling.

The unnamed victim was given immediate first aid by the crew of the boat he was on – Deora De – before being transferred to a lifeboat where further casualty care was given.

Crosshaven RNLI said it was alerted to the incident around 6pm and met with the Deora De about 4 miles south of Roches Point. 

The lifeboat was then met at Crosshaven by a NAS Paramedic crew who took the man to University Hospital. 

A RNLI spokesman added: “This was more of an angling accident than a shark attack, there was a bit of a struggle when pulling the shark on board.

“We’re not trying to panic anyone.”

Although blue sharks are the most common species of shark in Irish waters, they rarely bite humans.

They usually feed on small fish and squid, and can live for around 20 years.

Until 2013, the blue shark was implicated in only 13 biting incidents with humans, four of which ended fatally.