A major search was launched this evening after a red flare was spotted in the sky near Scarriff.
The alarm was raised at around 5.30 this evening when a member of the public reported seeing a flare in the sky in the vicinity of Scarriff Bay.
The Shannon based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, was requested to assist after Gardaí commenced an initial search of the area.
The Killaloe unit of the Irish Coast Guard dispatched a boat crew along with three land vehicles to the search area.
As Rescue 115 carried out an aerial survey of the area Killaloe Coast Guard teams carried out land and water based searches. The harbour and bay areas were searched in case there was a vessel in difficulty.
After over an hour searching nothing was found and the operation was stood down.
The incident is being treated as false alarm with good intent.
While the call from the public was genuine, Gardaí are investigating the matter.
