Singer-turned-hero Damien Dempsey didn’t make a song and dance yesterday about the summer day he saved a swimmer’s life. The Dublin native waded into the River Slaney in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, and helped pluck a drowning man to safety.

The heroic actions of a garda who has saved the lives of two people over the past two weeks have highlighted the need for better water safety in Ireland.