Eight people were rescued in two separate incidents in rough conditions on Lough Derg in the past 24 hours.
The first incident involved two men who got into difficulty in strong winds and rough water close to Two Mile Gate shore in Co Clare.
The Killaloe unit of the Irish Coast Guard sent teams by water and road and quickly located two men in a small lake boat. They had been attempting to reach their cruiser which was anchored near Two Mile Gate.
They were taken safely back to their cruiser.
At around 7.50pm, after returning to their base in Killaloe, the crew heard a call for help on the marine emergency VHF radio channel.
The rescue boat launched again and raced to the entrance to Mountshannon Harbour where a 23ft cruiser had reportedly run aground.
The Lough Derg RNLI lifeboat based at Dromineer on the opposite side of the lake was also requested to respond.
The vessel was towed off the rocks and taken in Mountshannon. The two people on board were unharmed.
This evening the Killaloe Coast Guard was called out again to another cruise boat in difficulty.
The 38 foot cruiser with 4 people on board ran aground in Tinerana Bay on the Clare shore of Lough Derg.
The rescue boat reached the scene within minutes after checking to ensure the cruise boat hadn’t been damaged. It was established there was an issue with the casualty vessel’s engines so it was take on tow to Ballina.