Man clinging to cliff by fingertips when rescued

A TOURIST who tried to climb a sheer cliff on the Cork coast in his bare feet after becoming trapped by the tide came within minutes of death, the Coast Guard said last night.

The Englishman in his 20s was clinging on by his fingertips about halfway up the cliff-face for half an hour before he was spotted by a couple walking on the cliff-top.

The Kinsale unit of the Irish Coast Guard mounted a dramatic cliff-top rescue operation and hauled the exhausted man to safety.