Lifeboat rescues ‘paraglider’ in difficulty

AFTER a series of 999 emergency calls reporting an object crashing into the sea off Bray, Co Wicklow, the volunteer RNLI lifeboat crew from Dun Laoghaire raced to the scene where they rescued a giant Mickey Mouse balloon.

Several callers to the Irish Coast Guard coordination centre in Dublin had reported seeing an object landing in the water 1,000 metres off the Bray seafront.

Several paragliders had been operating in the area and there were fears that one of them might have got into difficulty.

Arriving on scene, the All-Weather lifeboat crew of seven recovered a large inflatable Mickey Mouse balloon that was being carried by the light breeze and flood tide towards the cliffs at Shan­ganagh.

“We’re happy that this was a call made with good intent and calling 999 and asking for Coast Rescue is always the best course of action,” said Stephen Wynne, lifeboat operations manager at Dun Laoghaire.

“And in this case, we were particularly happy to assist Mickey Mouse, one of our all-time favourite cartoon characters.”