The body of five-year-old boy has been recovered after a major search operation in County Mayo.

It is believed the fell out of a dinghy on Lough Mask yesterday evening.

The alarm was raised after the dinghy was seen floating empty on the water at around 6:30pm.

The Irish Coast Guard helicopter resumed its search for the boy at 5:30am this morning with specialist divers and Civil Defence teams are also re-joining the operation.

Local councillor Michael Kilcoyne expressed his condolences this morning.

“This is terrible news and my heart goes out to his family,” he said.

“All I can say is I am devastated to hear this news and it is most traumatic for his family. All I can do is extend my sympathy to the family and say a prayer for them because they are facing some nightmare.”