RNLI rescues two people cut off by off by rising tide in Dublin

Dún Laogaire RNLI carried out three rescues over the weekend

The alarm was raised at 4.30pm when the two people found themselves surrounded by water with two more hours of incoming tide.
The alarm was raised at 4.30pm when the two people found themselves surrounded by water with two more hours of incoming tide.

Two people were rescued by the RNLI after they were cut off by the rising tide while on Sandymount strand in Dublin on Sunday.

The alarm was raised at 4.30pm when the two people found themselves surrounded by water with two more hours of incoming tide.

A shore unit of the Irish Coast Guard spotted the pair from the road and directed the Dún Laoghaire RNLI inshore lifeboat to the scene.

The depth of water was insufficient to permit the boat to reach the casualties and a crew-member walked the remaining distance to reach the two people who were standing on a sandbank.

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They were then brought to the safety of the lifeboat and landed at the Pigeon House Road beach at Ringsend. The pair were unharmed apart from wet clothes and were looked after by the Dún Laoghaire Coast Guard personnel ashore.

The operation took just over 90 minutes from start to finish and the lifeboat and crew have returned to station. The Irish Coast Guard rescue helicopter R116 was dispatched form its base at Dublin Airport but stood-down when the casualties were located.

The call-out was the second service on Sunday for the Dun Laoghaire lifeboat. Earlier, two people on a 22-foot motorboat that lost engine power and was at risk of grounding on rocks at the West Pier in Dun Laoghaire were brought to safety just after midday.

On night Saturday night, three people on a Scottish 60-foot cruising motor yacht were brought to safety at Dun Laoghaire in high winds by the all-weather lifeboat in a two-hour operation.

Marie O'Halloran

Marie O'Halloran

Marie O'Halloran is Parliamentary Correspondent of The Irish Times