River search teams recover body

Coastguards searching for a missing boy who was swept into the River Foyle in County Donegal have recovered a body.

The 14-year-old was fishing near St Johnston village when he was carried out into the water on Monday evening.

A major air-and-sea rescue operation was launched, which included assistance for a time from the PSNI helicopter.

An Irish rescue helicopter from Sligo, boats from Greencastle Coastguard and the Foyle Search and Rescue team also took part in the search.

Finbar O'Connor, Malin Head Station Officer, said volunteer kayakers had also assisted the search effort.

The kayakers and searchers wearing drysuits examined the shore area.

Monday was one of the busiest days of the year for rescue operations for the Irish Coast Guard.

Earlier, a 27-year-old man, who became ill while climbing Croagh Patrick in County Mayo, was airlifted to hospital in Castlebar.

The helicopter had earlier rescued a man who fell into the sea at Killybegs, who was taken to Sligo General Hospital.

An 11-year-old boy, who was injured in an abseiling accident near Newport in County Tipperary was also airlifted to safety then brought to hospital in Limerick.

The Coastguard said the boy appeared to have fallen about 100m into a gorge.

Elsewhere, a small fishing boat, which got into difficulty off the Kerry coast, was rescued and towed to safety.

The boat, with two people on board, developed steering difficulties a short distance from Fenit Island and was drifting onto rocks close to the island.