Rescue teams had to drill specialised pieces of equipment into a Mayo sea cave to rescue a man who was trapped for nearly 22 hours over the weekend.
The 40-year-old man got stuck on a ledge in a cave at Downpatrick Head after being swept into the area during high tide last evening.
The alarm was raised just before 6pm on Saturday and a major search and rescue operation was launched.
The man was eventually rescued with the assistance of the Irish Cave Rescue Team and airlifted from the scene by the Sligo-based Rescue Coast Guard helicopter.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Agatha Hurst from the Ballyglass RNLI Volunteer Lifeboat said the operation was a remarkable and a fantastic rescue effort.
"Remarkable and fantastic"
“He was on a ledge and he was about 14mtrs back into the cave so it was very difficult for him to come out on his own,” she said. “It was just a remarkable and a fantastic effort to get him out safely.”
She said the sea swell made for a dangerous situation.
“Even though the sea might have looked calm enough when you are looking down on it, there was a bit of a swell,” she said. “There was quite a bit of a swell, so it was creating, almost, kind of a washing machine effect inside the cave.
“I suppose the only way to get to him - they tried lots of different methods – the only way they could get down to him was with the Irish Cave Rescue Team.
“It took them a long time, they had to drill in specialised pieces of equipment all the way down along the face of the cliff so that they could securely get to him and rescue him.”
Rescue
A woman who also got into difficulty in the area yesterday was brought to safety by kayakers – but heavy sea swells then blocked the entrance to the cave.
A kayaker managed to bring the woman to safety soon afterwards, but the man remained on a ledge in the cave overnight.
Contact with the man was maintained throughout the last day.
He is now believed to be recovering well.
The RNLI, Gardaí, the Irish Coast Guard, the Civil Defence forces and the local fire brigade were also involved in the rescue effort.
