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.

The vessel, which was carrying four people, was in danger of sinking after taking on water due to the strength of the wind and resulting waves.

After locating a salvage pump to prevent the emergency from becoming life-threatening, the local lifeboat brought the stricken vessel back to land without any injuries to its crew.

Hours earlier, at 8am, their counterparts in Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, had to rescue two yachts after they struggled to cope with the worsening bank holiday Sunday conditions.

The ships, carrying 12 people between them, suffered damage to their engines and propellers while sailing in the gale force seven winds.

“The casualties in these incidents were both prepared for off-shore conditions. But unforeseen circumstances meant they needed the assistance of the lifeboat on this occasion,” RNLI Coxswain spokesman Mark McGibney said of the Dún Laoghaire incident.

Meanwhile, four children aged between 10 and 14 had to be rescued off the coast of Clare yesterday after they were cut off on a headland by the tide.

The alarm was raised just after 4pm when the group and an adult male were caught out by rising water at Rinn Point, just offshore from Ballyvaughan in the north of the county.

The man managed to swim to shore and contact the emergency services, before the Irish Coast Guard rescue co-ordination centre at Valentia Island, Co Kerry, mounted a rescue operation which included the Galway RNLI inshore lifeboat.

Two volunteers waded on to the island and took the four to safety. Two were able to wade to the lifeboat unaided while two others were carried to the rescue boat by RNLI volunteers. The four were taken by the rescue boat to Ballyvaughan pier where they were reunited with their family.

Gardaí were also sent to the scene while an ambulance was requested to attend. Two of the youngsters were assessed and treated by paramedics. It’s believed they were suffering from mild hypothermia.