The Irish Coastguard has said "very little" could've been done to save two siblings who drowned off Ballybunion beach in County Kerry last night.

The man, aged in his 50s, was from Roscommon, while his 62-year-old sister had an address in Sweden.

Both bodies were recovered but efforts to revive them failed.

On The Pat Kenny Show, Deputy Director of the Irish Coastguard Gerard O'Flynn, described how the events unfolded: "It is a lifeguard protected beach and the Valentia Coastguard was alerted to the fact that somebody was in trouble."

"The tasking was timely and all of the possible resources were immediately available, so very little in these circumstances could've been done."

"Tragic accident"

It is understood that one went into the water and got into trouble and the other tried to help them.

A teenage member of the family was on the beach at the time of the tragedy.

Gardaí are treating their deaths as a “tragic accident”.

"Events can turn very quickly in our business."

It was thought that a third person was missing and so the search was extended by 30-45 minutes, until the Gardaí established that there was no one else.

"In these situations we always take a precautionary approach", Mr O'Flynn said.

The night before, Valentia Coastguard successfully rescued someone who had gotten lost near Brandon Mountain in Kerry.

"Events can turn very quickly in our business."

Weather conditions

Mr O'Flynn said that the weather conditions in Ballybunion last night were not exceptionally dangerous.

"An afternoon or an evening breeze is not untypical for this time of year."

"I don't think there was anything to say that it was unsafe for swimming. If it was, I'm sure the lifeguards would've intervened."

Mr O'Flynn praised the "timely response" of the Ballybunion coastguard unit, Kilrush RNLI and the National Ambulance Service.

Main image shows the beaches at Ballybunion. Picture by: Ross Warner/Alamy Stock Photo