16 people rescued in one day in Wicklow

Extreme weather conditions combined with very high water levels in rivers in the Wicklow mountains contributed to 16 people requiring rescue yesterday. Despite completing a strenuous training exercise earlier on Sunday, Dublin & Wicklow Mountain Rescue and the Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue responded to two separate incidents during the day, with the last rescue continuing through the night until 7am this morning.

The first rescue involved a family group of 5 who had started a walk near Djouce Mountain and had been surprised by the high winds and driving rain. At about 1.30pm, as they sought shelter behind a wall, mountain rescue volunteers who had been out walking in the area spotted them. They approached the group and quickly established that they needed help in order to ensure their safety. They were quickly assessed by a mountain rescue medic and provided with warm clothes and food. They were then escorted a short distance across a river to a forest track where Mountain Rescue 4x4 vehicles were able to transport them back to their cars.

The second incident involved an experienced group from a Dublin based hiking club. The 11 people in the group had started their walk from the car park above Glenmacnass waterfall at 11am that morning. When they were about to finish their hike that evening they realised that the river between them and their cars had swollen and they would not be able to cross it safely. The group decided to move upstream in order to find a safer place to cross but remained stranded on the wrong side of the river. At approximately 7.30pm, they found themselves under a small cliff beside the fast-flowing river with no hope of crossing or moving further upstream. At this point they decided to call mountain rescue and ask for assistance.