Weather puts paid to re-floating of stranded lifeboat

Rough seas and warnings of 70mph gales later this afternoon has delayed new attempts to re-float the Portrush Lifeboat which is stranded on rocks at Rathlin Island.

RNLI Ireland officials confirmed the stricken vessel had shifted slightly overnight, but insisted the risk of a diesel leak at this stage was low.

Spokesperson Niamh Stephenson said: “The weather is deteriorating and there is no question of us going out at the moment.”

Attempts to pull the damaged £2m (€2.7m) lifeboat off the rocks have failed. Plans to try and get it back into deep water using some form of buoyancy are now being considered by a rescue team at Ballycastle, but with the threat of more bad weather tomorrow it could be sometime before they get anywhere near the vessel.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, a dive team and the Irish and UK coastguard have all offered to help with the operation.

Ms Stephenson added: “For safety reasons, there is no question of anybody going out. Conditions are just wretched.”