TWO surfers had to be rescued after they got into difficulty off the Clare coast on Saturday evening.

The alarm was raised at around 6.30pm when the Irish Coast Guard received an initial report that a person had been cut off by the tide and was trapped on a rock.

The location was given as off Doughmore Beach close to the Trump International hotel in Doonbeg.

Watch officers at the Irish Coast Guard’s marine rescue sub centre on Valentia Island in Kerry mounted a search and rescue operation. However, further information became available it was confirmed that two surfers had been caught in a riptide and pulled out to sea.

The Kilkee and Doolin units of the Irish Coast Guard, National Ambulance Service and Gardaí were alerted and dispatched resources to the scene. The Shannon based Coast Guard helicopter Rescue 115 was also tasked to the incident.

As emergency were being mobilised, the Coast Guard broadcast a Pan-pan radio message requesting any vessels in the area to respond to the scene if they were in a position to do so. Persons on the shore reported they could see the surfers on their boards waving and calling for assistance.

As Kilkee Coast Guard volunteers arrived with their D-class rescue boat ready to launch, other surfers had gone to the aid of the casualties and helped them ashore. The two casualties, believed to be women in their 20s, were assessed by ambulance paramedics and were found to be uninjured and not in need of medical assistance.

Soon afterward the rescue operation was stood down.

While Doughmore is popular with surfers it’s considered too dangerous for swimming and warning signs advise the public of the dangers associated with local riptides.

In July of last year, three swimmers were rescued in the same area after they got into difficulty.