20 rescued as severe weather and tides cause havoc

Twenty people were rescued in four separate incidents yesterday as gale force winds lashed the country and caused havoc to bank holiday plans.

The incidents, which occurred off Cork, Clare, and Dublin as the first days of June again saw the weather take a turn for the worse, saw boats taking on water, and propellers being broken by the ocean, and children cut off by tides.

In Ballycotton, the local RNLI lifeboat was received a distress call just after 12.40pm after a private boat got into difficulty 23 miles south-east of the picturesque village.