#LIFEBOATS - Four children were rescued from a rising tide on Sunday in what was a busy June bank holiday weekend for Ireland's RNLI lifeboats.
The Irish Times reports that a 10-year-old and three teenagers were with their father on Rine Island in Galway Bay, near Ballyvaughan in Co Clare, when they were caught out by the incoming tide.
The father swam to shore and raised the alarm, promoting a quick response from an Irish Coast Guard helicopter and the Galway RNLI lifeboat, who removed the children to safety.
“Both rescue services pulled out all the stops and were on the scene within minutes to divert what could have been a tragedy," said Galway lifeboat operations manager Mike Swan.
The incident occurred not long after the Ballycotton lifeboat was called to assist a vessel taking on water some 23 miles southeast of the Co Cork town.
And elsewhere, as previously reported on Afloat.ie, two racing yachts were led to safety by the Dun Laoghaire lifeboat on Sunday morning after getting into difficulty amid gale-force winds and driving rain on Dublin Bay.