The parents of Daragh and Eoin Curran, two of the boys who were trapped in a blizzard on Carrauntoohil, Co Kerry, earlier this week, spoke yesterday of their relief at their sons' rescue.
Mr John Curran said that by the time he arrived home from work his wife and sister had heard radio reports of a rescue in progress on Carrauntoohil. His sister spoke to gardai in Killarney, who confirmed their fears. However, shortly afterwards Daragh (17) had managed to speak to the family directly, having reached the Cronin household at the foot of the mountain.
Mr Curran described the experience as "worrying" but said that as the boys were interested in outdoor pursuits "there is a certain element of risk involved in these activities. You just try your best to make sure that they're properly equipped and trained.
"I am delighted when kids are passionate about some activity, be it football or mountaineering," Mr Curran said. "You either coop them up and shelter them from everything or you encourage them and try to ensure that they are sensible enough to deal with the risks."
He said Daragh was particularly passionate about mountaineering, spending every spare penny he had on equipment and his free time on the climbing wall at UCD.
After climbing since last Saturday, on Monday night the Currans, along with Ben Griffin (16) and the O'Shea brothers, Donal (17) and Conor (16), pitched their tents at the Eagle's Nest, 200-300 feet below the summit of the mountain.
"At 11.30 p.m. it got very bad," Eoin said. "Our tent started to rip apart.
"We collapsed our tents and sat into our bivvy bags [plastic survival bags] to sit it out until dawn. In the morning it was still pretty bad. We got ourselves down to the Mountain Rescue hut."
There the five warmed themselves a little and decided that Daragh and Conor would take the best of the equipment and climb down. Daragh described the descent as "tricky enough", as they had two heavily-flooded rivers to negotiate before reaching the Cronin household, from where they raised the alarm.
Daragh has been selected by the Mountaineering Council of Ireland to take part in its Millennium Youth Project, in which an all-Ireland group will climb in Scotland and the Swiss Alps. Both boys expressed their gratitude to the Kerry mountain rescue team and Aghadoe House, an An Oige hostel, for providing clothes and food.
Two women were located in a rescue operation on Tomies Mountain, Co Kerry, early today. They became separated from their male companion who was able to raise the alarm. About two dozen volunteers were involved in the rescue, in windy weather, which was co-ordinated by Kerry Mountain Rescue.