71-year-old tourist saves drowning woman in Liffey

A 71-year-old Englishman jumped into the River Liffey and saved a woman's life within three hours of his arrival in Dublin on holiday yesterday afternoon.

Mr Thomas O'Rourke of Hastings, Sussex, was with his daughter and grand-daughter on O'Connell Bridge when they saw a woman climb over the wall on Aston Quay at about 3.30 p.m.

"She just disappeared into the water," said Mr O'Rourke's daughter, Ms Pauline Richards.

Mr O'Rourke's response was to climb over the wall, walk down the steps into the water and swim over to the woman. "She was floating face down", he said.

Meanwhile, the alarm had been raised in a Centra shop at the bottom of Westmoreland Street. A security guard in the shop, Mr David Keogh (24), went into the Liffey to assist Mr O'Rourke.

Between them, they managed to bring the woman to the quayside. "Without him [Mr Keogh], I doubt that I could have done it," said Mr O'Rourke. "I saw what was happening and I jumped in," said Mr Keogh, who has trained as a lifesaver.

The woman, who was in her 50s, was in considerable distress when they reached the quay. She was taken by ambulance to the Mater Hospital. A spokeswoman said later that she did not appear to be in any immediate danger.

Ms Richards said her father had never trained as a life-saver. Asked if he was noted as a particularly strong swimmer she said: "No. He hasn't swam in years." Clearly, however, this did not hold him back.

The family group arrived from London yesterday for a week-long stay in Dublin and a visit to relatives in Wexford. "We didn't expect this at all. We were only here three hours," said Ms Richards.

She and her daughter Emily were taken by i gardai to their hotel to get a fresh set of clothes for her father, who was taken to the Mater Hospital for a check-up.

When given the all-clear, Mr O'Rourke was modest. "It was nothing really. I just followed her into the water."

He said he felt well. "I had a whiskey and it pulled me around. That Liffey water, it doesn't taste like Guinness."

Despite immersion in the water for several minutes Mr O'Rourke's hearing aid appeared to be in working order yesterday evening. Of immediate concern, however, was the question of a new pair of glasses.

This was not Mr O'Rourke's first life-saving encounter. In the 1960s he helped a girl who had to be taken from a swimming pool.