#dublinbay – A regular swimmer at the popular bathing place in Sandycove, Co. Dublin was hospitalised after being rescued from the sea this morning.

The man had been swimming from the 40-foot shortly after 9am when he encountered difficulties in the choppy seas between the bathing place and Sandycove Harbour.

The Dun Laoghaire RNLI inshore lifeboat was paged by the Irish Coast Guard's Marine Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) Dublin at 9.37am and the three volunteer crew launched shortly afterwards.

A second swimmer had reached the casualty with a ringbuoy and was bringing the man towards the rocks when the inshore lifeboat arrived on scene. The man was carried ashore and treated for hypothermia and minor injuries by the lifeboat crew.

The second swimmer was checked by the Dun Laoghaire Coast Guard Unit and was unhurt.

A HSE ambulance was despatched to the scene and a decision was made to MEDEVAC the casualty to the Irish Coast Guard Rescue 116 helicopter due to his deteriorating condition.

#FortyFoot - Just a few months after the swimming club at Dublin Bay's famous Forty Foot bathing spot lifted its ban on women members, The Irish Times looks back on the day 40 years ago when Sandycove was 'invaded' by a group of campaigning women.

Renowned journalist Nell McCafferty was one of those who joined the so-called Dublin City Women's Invasion Force to highlight the sexism of their exclusion from the swimming spot made famous by James Joyce's Ulysses.

“There was loads of sexist abuse from the men in language that was acceptable at the time,” she said.

But the actions of these women was transformative for the Forty Foot, as McCafferty recalls finding an area with men, women and children swimming together when she returned the following year.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

#FortyFoot - It's a big victory for women at the famous Forty Foot swimming spot in South Dublin as the adjacent - and formerly staunchly male-only - Sandycove Bathers' Association has decided to accept female members.

The move follows more than a year after the club's last vote on the motion to accept women members saw it rejected by 24 to 17, as previously reported on Afloat.ie.

According to The Irish Times, reform at the Sandycove club comes almost four decades after the ban on women bathing at the celebrated Dublin Bay dipping location - enshrined in the pages of James Joyce's Ulysses - was lifted in the wake of protests by the then burgeoning women's liberation movement.

It appears that a recent meeting at a local pub was all it took for the club to change its position on the matter - possibly prompted by the opening of a new council-built bathing shelter that's open to all.

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

#FORTY FOOT - The Irish Times reports that a men-only bathing club at the famous Forty Foot swimming spot in Sandycove, south Dublin, has voted against a proposal to allow women members.

While the area is open for all - and has allowed both sexes for more than 25 years - the adjacent clubhouse and changing hut are owned by the Sandycove Bathers' Association, founded in the late 19th century.

The Dublin Bay club does not grant full membership to women, though many do contribute an annual maintenance fee.

At a meeting on Thursday to discuss the proposed motion - rejected by a vote of 24 to 17 - one unnamed member described what he perceived as "an underlying tone of misogyny".

The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.

#DUBLIN BAY NEWS - As Dubliners enjoyed the sunshine by the seaside yesterday, things got a little too heated at the Forty Foot in Sandycove when a fracas broke out between two groups of young men at the popular bathing spot.

According to RTÉ News, bottles were broken and a number of people were injured in the row, which occurred after the two groups – from the Crumlin and East Wall areas – had been drinking for some hours.

Three were arrested by Gardaí at the scene and released this morning, while four people were treated for minor stab wounds after the incident. It is thought that some 20 people were involved in the altercation.

#WEATHER - Those hardy Yuletide bathers at the Forty Foot in Dublin didn't need to be so brave this year, as Ireland experienced one of the warmest Christmas Days on record.

Just one year ago Ireland was in the grip of a deep freeze. But as the Irish Independent reports, temperatures on Sunday last rose to as much as 14.4 degrees in Co Cork.

It's been almost a decade since late December temperatures reached such levels, when Christmas in 2002 saw highs of 14.6 degrees according to Met Éireann records.

Sunny spells on the east coast brought out the polar bear plungers to Sandymount and the Grand Canal as well as the famous Forty Foot bathing spot in Sandycove.

The Irish Independent has more on the story HERE.