A major search for a sailing boat reported to have been in difficulty off Co Clare has been stood down.
The alarm was raised at around 7.00pm when emergency services received a report of a boat in trouble off Black Head in the north of the county.
A search and rescue operation involving Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard; the Shannon based search and rescue helicopter and the Galway RNLI lifeboat was quickly launched.
In the meantime, the Coast Guard broadcast a radio message to any boats in the area of Galway Bay and Black Head to report back if they saw anything or were aware of any vessel in distress.
A comprehensive air and sea search was carried out while Coast Guard land teams searched the shoreline for any sign of a vessel or persons in the water.
Some time later, the crew of Rescue 115 made contact with the skipper of a French sailing who confirmed they had been close to Black Head earlier but that they were not in difficulty.
At the time, the sailing boat was off the south Galway coast in Galway Bay about 10 kilometres north west of the search area.
The search was stood down at around 8.20pm after it was confirmed to have been a false alarm.
The operation was mounted and coordinated by watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard marine rescue sub centre at Valentia while the incident was managed locally by Doolin Coast Guard.