After two days of competition in extremely difficult weather conditions, Austin McHale won the Dunlop-sponsored Rally of Ireland by over two minutes from Michael Barrable.

It was a remarkable victory as McHale was almost last after an accident involving the Ford Escort Cosworth of Tommy Graham near the first stage on Saturday morning. He kept the pressure on all day and by Sunday he had taken the lead when Eamon Boland crashed on the second stage.

"I didn't think I'd be here after the first stage," admitted McHale. "It was a good rally considering the conditions. We went well but we've got a bit more work to do on the suspension of the Toyota Corolla WRC before the Cork 20 in a few weeks time."

Second placed Barrable was delighted with his finish after driveshaft trouble and punctures. Peadar Hurson in third was slowed by turbo trouble but commented that although he was disappointed after leading a couple of times, he was pleased overall.

In Group N there was a turnaround towards the end when George Treacy put his Subaru off the road for several minutes and handed the class win to Francis Corrigan. In the Ford Ka Championship, James Travers had 16 seconds in hand over John O'Dowd and has won the series with one round to run.

Fifth placed Dominic Loughran battled all day with a sticking clutch on his Ford Sierra, setting a fastest stage time in the wet which was quite a performance.