A pony was lost at sea this afternoon despite the best efforts of search and rescue services to recover the animal from the base of a cliff in Co Clare.

Two crew members, seriously injured on board a Dutch super-trawler overnight, have been airlifted to hospital by an Irish Coast Guard helicopter.

UPDATE 4.20pm: A man, understood to be in his early 40s and from Clare, has died after he was rescued from the sea off Clare this morning.

An investigation has been launched into the sinking of a “pristine” trawler off the Wexford coast.

The Coast Guard has said the search for a missing fisherman off the coast of Wexford is now categorised as a recovery operation.

A man has been airlifted to hospital after suffering a fall while hiking in the Burren in Co. Clare this afternoon.

As an island nation, one of our most valuable assets is our coastguard, often unsung, whose work would be impossible without the service and skills of its more than 900 unpaid volunteers.

Irish Coast Guard units attended 1,075 incidents throughout the year, according to their end of year statement.

As a result volunteers at 23 of the service’s 44 stations equipped with rigid inflatable boats and smaller D-Class boats couldn’t launch any rescue operations.

Five of the 23 Irish Coast Guard units who have been barred from launching their rescue boats in recent weeks could resume water-based operations as early as next weekend.

An RNLI lifeboat crew was called to assist an Irish Coast Guard unit at a water rescue incident in Co Clare overnight, because they cannot currently launch their own rescue boats.

The Irish Coast Guard has suspended all search and rescue boat operations with immediate effect because of concerns over the safety of volunteer’s lifejackets.

A kite surfer has become the first person to be injured as a direct result of Storm Lorenzo.

A woman has been airlifted to safety after slipping on steep ground, at Balscadden, on Dublin's Howth Head.

A man and two children have been airlifted to hospital after they got into difficulty while swimming in Co. Kerry this afternoon.

A man has died following a swimming incident in Co. Clare this morning.

Rescue services were alerted when a child got into difficulty off Portmarnock beach in Dublin.

Baltimore RNLI rescued a windsurfer who had got into difficulty in Baltimore harbour, West Cork, today.

The Irish Coast Guard received a report at around 11pm of a person in difficulty in the water off Ballybunion beach. It was also feared that there may have been a second swimmer in trouble.

The Irish Coast Guard has come to the rescue of a cliff walker who suffered a leg injury on Howth Head.

A seriously injured fisherman had to be airlifted from a trawler off the Kerry coast late last night.

The crew was flying to the Aran Islands last night for a training exercise when the dangerous green laser light was aimed at their aircraft.

An Irish Coast Guard helicopter was sent to meet a fishing trawler three times before they could eventually airlift a seriously ill crew member to hospital.

A major search was launched on Lough Derg in Co Clare this evening amid fears that a kayaker was missing or in difficulty.

The sister of tragic Coast Guard helicopter pilot Dara Fitzpatrick - who died on board an Irish Coast Guard rescue helicopter that crashed in 2017 - has blasted an alleged laser attack on a Coast Guard helicopter crew in Limerick last Thursday night.

A teenager is recovering in hospital after sustaining injuries in a surfing accident in Co Clare this evening.

A body was located and recovered from the sea this afternoon about a mile off the Galway coast.

Today marks the second anniversary of the Rescue 116 helicopter crash in which four crew members were killed off the coast of Co Mayo.

The husband of the late Caitriona Lucas says it is a great honour that one of her paintings has been featured in two new stamps issued to honour the Irish Coast Guard.

47-year-old Keith McClure was last seen walking his dog in the Ballynahinch area at around 11pm last night.

The Coast Guard evacuated an injured man from a Norweigan fishing vessel this morning.

The Minister for Transport is being asked to explain a ban on the Coast Guard using blue lights and sirens while driving to emergencies.

Coast Guard management issued a ‘safety notice’ on February 14 informing volunteers that "vehicles are no longer permitted to use blue lights and warning devices (sirens) while driving on public roads."