Pockets of air trapped inside a young girl’s coat kept her afloat after she was swept out to sea during Storm Kathleen, according to one of the rescuers who saved her.

Andrew Sykes was on board the RNLI lifeboat that raced out in response to reports that a young girl had been swept out to sea from the east pier of Dun Laoghaire Harbour in Co Dublin at about 8.20pm on Saturday.

As Storm Kathleen hit Ireland this weekend, conditions were difficult for the rescue according to Mr Sykes, but they reached the young girl and pulled her out of the water within eight and a half minutes of the emergency call.

“With the high winds and storm we were experiencing, with large waves and surge coming off the pier, to get alongside her was extremely difficult. She would be pushed one way and we would be pushed another,” Mr Sykes said.

After two attempts to reach her from within the boat failed, he was forced to jump into the water to grab hold of her.

He said the child was calm and alert, lying on her back in the water with her arms out wide despite the terrifying conditions.

But the air trapped in her coat was crucial and had helped her keep afloat in the stormy conditions.

“She had a jacket on and capsules of air had become trapped in it – those kept her afloat,” Mr Sykes said.

After being rescued, she was taken to hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

Ed Totterdell, lifeboat operations manager at Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat Station, praised the crew members involved in the rescue.

“It showed the talent of the crew on board that they were able to do it, they were ready for it,” he said.

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Dun Laoghaire TD Jennifer Carroll MacNeill praised the “extraordinary efforts” of the rescuers as Fianna Fail TD Cormac Devlin described the rescuers as “heroic”.

“Thank you and I hope that the young girl is recovering well,” he posted on social media.

In a statement on Sunday, the Garda said: “Gardaí assisted emergency services in the rescue of a female child who had gone into the water at Dun Laoghaire harbour yesterday evening.

“The child was rescued from the water by emergency services and taken to hospital in south Dublin to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.”

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Ireland was hit by the worst of Storm Kathleen, with 34,000 people left without power on Saturday, and orange wind warnings in effect across parts of the country.

Much of the UK is set to see continued windy weather into the start of this week, with more severe weather warnings in place.

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