Gardaí talk down man who threatened to jump into River Shannon

Gardaí have been hailed heroes after talking a man off of a bridge in Limerick after he threatened to jump into the River Shannon.

Emergency services were alerted to the situation at 2.15pm after a member of the public reported seeing the man climb onto Sarsfield Bridge.

A female passer-by, in her 20s, was attempting to talk the man down when gardaí arrived and took over.

Three units of Limerick City & County Fire Service also responded to the scene within three minutes, along with the service's rescue boat, FIRESWIFT, which was manned by trained Swiftwater Rescue Technician firefighters.

Gardaí attached to Henry Street garda station managed to talk the man down.

A source said officers accompanied the man to Henry Street garda station for his own safety.

"Those lads probably saved that man's life there, and they just went about it very calmly," said a male eye witness.

"They're real heroes."