President Mary McAleese was yesterday at the centre of a river rescue while boating on the River Shannon near her Co Roscommon holiday home.
Mrs McAleese and her husband Martin were sailing on their boat between Leitrim village and Hartley Bridge when they happened upon an accident in which a jet-skier was in collision with a speedboat.
A security officer with the President - a member of the Garda water unit who was following her boat - helped to get the injured jet-skier, a man believed to be aged about 30, to shore at Carrick-on-Shannon marina. A spokeswoman for the President said that without the first-aid assistance of the Garda unit, the man's condition could have been far more serious.
While the first-aid was being carried out, a woman on the speedboat dialled the emergency services and alerted the Coastguard Service at Malin Head. An air-sea rescue helicopter was dispatched from Strandhill airport, Co Sligo.
The jet-skier, who had back and pelvis injuries, was flown to Sligo General Hospital. A hospital spokeswoman said the man was not in a critical condition but that injuries he sustained to his back were of concern.
President McAleese made her official car and driver available to take the injured man's wife to the hospital. "The President was very concerned to offer whatever assistance she could. She followed the injured man, who was dispatched in the speedboat to Carrick-on-Shannon, in her own boat to offer further assistance," said the spokeswoman.
The injured man is believed to have been a weekend visitor who was staying at a holiday apartment in the area.
Mrs McAleese and her husband were on their way back to their country home in Roscommon after a trip up the river to Carrick-on-Shannon when they happened on the accident scene at 1.30pm.
They arrived in the area on Saturday after a week brushing up their knowledge of Irish at the Oideas Gael centre in Glencolmcille, Co Donegal.