Perfect weather delights all as it settles in at last

"IT was perfect weather here today," said Liam Conole, son of John Conole, publican, Kinvara, Co Galway. "Farmers coming in this evening were delighted. That's how we measure the weather."

Summer weather really arrived yesterday all over Ireland.

As Mary Hegarty, of Hegarty's convenience store, Main Street, Bantry, put it. "Up to this, the weather was average enough. Irish. But today it's been lovely all day."

Angela Boyle, of the Glen Hotel on Arranmore, off the coast of Co Donegal, said it was "once in a blue moon that you get a good spell of weather out here, but it's really good today".

The views on Arranmore when the weather is clear and warm are "beautiful", said Angela. When the weather cheers up, people get on the ferry in Burtonport and head on out to the island. "The hotel is full tonight. It's looking good, looking promising."

"The weather here today was beautiful, gorgeous, said John O'Donnell, of O'Donnell's bar in Inistioge, Co Kilkenny. "Hopefully we'll get sunshine now for a couple of weeks. It's been desperate up to this. With the evenings getting shorter already you'd need a few weeks of summer, wouldn't you?"

Inistioge, where Circle of Friends was filmed a few years ago, has been "quiet enough" on the tourism front, John said. "Some good weather will bring everyone out though. Sell plenty of pints."

Met Eireann, John will be glad to hear, is promising the sunshine will continue. Temperatures away from the coast will be 22 to 25 degrees Celsius today. Light breezes along the coast will take a couple of digits off those figures.

The sunshine is set to continue until Friday at least, according to Met Eireann. Liam Conole, in Kinvara, says the old people there are predicting "it could stay like this for maybe a month or that. I'm not great at the weather, but that's what the old people are saying".

Munster and Connaught are tipped by Met Eireann to be a degree or so hotter than Ulster or Leinster. Dubliners can expect a "fine, dry day" with temperatures of around 22 degrees Celsius inland and 17 to 18 degrees along the coast.

Sadly, the good cheer that hit the country and sent people flocking to the beaches was marred by a tragic accident on Tramore beach, Co Waterford.

Christopher Power (6), of Ardmore Park, Ballybeg, in the city, was playing in the water when he got into difficulties. He was brought to the shore, but attempts to revive him were not successful.