Search for missing Garda to resume

A search for a young garda swept away by floods in the Wicklow mountains was resuming today.

The officer, in his 20s and stationed at Stepaside, south Dublin, had been helping people on the upper stretches of the River Liffey.

The garda was attempting to keep people safe from dangerous floods at Ballysmuttan bridge at 7pm yesterday when he was swept away.

Superintendent Eamon Keogh, of Blessington Garda Station, said Garda Jones – a member of the force for about four years – was pulled into the river while trying to come to the aid of a motorist.

“He was seen for a few moments by friends and then he wasn’t seen again,” he said.

Garda Jones’s brother and sister were at the scene last night.

There had been fears the bridge was in danger of collapsing as people tried to cross.

No-one else was injured.

The officer, who lived near the spot where he went missing, is understood to have got out of his car at the bridge to help others at risk of being stranded.

The Irish Coast Guard, the Garda helicopter and mountain and river rescue teams joined Garda colleagues in the search for several hours.

The accident happened after huge swathes of the east of the country were hit by almost a month’s rain in the last 24 hours.

The Liffey at Ballysmuttan is normally shallow and wide and just seven miles from its source in the Wicklow Mountains.