A mother and daughter were rescued off the Dublin coast today after the inflatable dinghy they were on was blown out to sea.
A lifeboat spokesman said the pair had been playing in shallow water at the south beach, Skerries, at about 9.30am when the wind picked up and pushed them out towards Colt Island.
The woman's partner swam out to try to reach them but was forced back to shore where he raised the alarm.
With the help of a buoyancy aid, the man made a second successful attempt to reach the 11-year-old girl who had jumped from the dinghy and was trying to swim to shore.
The man brought her back to land safely. The local Skerries RNLI Lifeboat was launched at 10.10am and rescued the woman. The three were treated at Skerries lifeboat station but none of them had serious injuries.