Over 1,000 migrants have been rescued by LÉ Eithne off the coast of Libya over the past two days.

647 migrants were rescued from two separate vessels and taken on board the Irish naval vessel today, north of Tripoli.

This follows six operations yesterday in which 593 migrants were rescued by the Irish Defence Forces.

LÉ Eithne has rescued over 3,000 people since being deployed in May to assist Italian authorities in search and rescue operations in Mediterranean.

Today's first operation saw 330 people rescued from a wooden barge, 50 nautical miles northwest of Tripoli.

Immediately afterwards, LÉ Eithne was sent to rescue a further 317 people on a wooden barge in the area.

There are now about 544 men, 95 women and eight children on board.

The 593 people rescued yesterday were transferred to HMS Bulwark early this morning.

The Irish naval vessel departed Cork on 16 May to help Italian authorities in the humanitarian operations in the Mediterranean.

Its search and rescue operations began on 28 May.