FIVE PEOPLE HAVE been rescued off the coast of Cork after a motor boat’s engine failed this afternoon.

The boat’s engine failed around two miles off Ballycroneen in east Cork earlier today. 

The Valentia Coast Guard requested the Ballycotton RNLI lifeboat to attend the scene, where the boat had dropped anchor after it came into difficulty to secure its position until the lifeboat arrived.

A crew of seven volunteer members of the RNLI towed the boat and its passengers back to Cork harbour. 

The RNLI has said it was “slightly choppy with wind force 2-3 and an incoming tide” at the time of the rescue.

The crew towed the boat to the Hugh Coveney pier in the Port of Cork, where the harbour master and Crosshaven RNLI launch authority were on standby to provide assistance.

Ballycotton RNLI lifeboat coxswain Eolan Walsh said in a statement this evening that ‘thankfully conditions were good and all five people were wearing lifejackets and the owner of the boat had called for help as soon as they encountered difficulties”.

“We would advise people to take the correct water safety advice for the activity they are taking part in and to always make sure they have a means of raising the alarm if things go wrong,” Walsh said.

The lifeboat and crew returned to Ballycotton by 5.05pm, where the lifeboat was washed down and refuelled.

The lifeboat crew members were coxswain Eolan Walsh, deputy mechanic Alan Cott, Eolan Breathnach, Aine Flynn, Stephen Sloane, Michael Kenneally and Ronan Lynch.