A man drowned trying to recover a dinghy which had drifted away, it was disclosed today.
George Darren Mulraine (35) waded into Strangford Lough in the Quoile Estuary near Downpatrick last night to try to get hold of the craft and got into difficulties.
Members of the public got him out of the water near Gibbs Island and tried to resuscitate him before the Portaferry Lifeboat crew took over.
He was flown by helicopter to hospital where efforts to revive him failed.
Mr Mulraine lived in Killyleagh, Co Down , a few miles up the shore of the lough from where he died.
Meanwhile a man was critically ill in hospital in Dublin after being dragged from the River Liffey.
The man was found floating face down in the river and was pulled out by a Garda officer who went into the water to rescue him.
The Garda was responding to a call from the public that a man had fallen into the river from the Butt Bridge.
The man, 38, was not breathing when he was recovered from the water between the bridge and Eden Quay, but was resuscitated by Gardai and the Fire Brigade before being taken to the city's Mater Hospital where his condition remained critical.
PA