The rescue of a horse who had fallen into a 3m (10ft) pool of bog water in poor weather conditions has been hailed as a “Christmas miracle”.
The animal is said to be recovering after a “delicate” three-hour mission involving emergency services at an as yet unidentified bog in Co Longford on Friday night.
Gardaí and the fire services were helped by the Hungry Horse Outside equine rescue charity during the operation.
It is thought the animal had accidentally fallen into the pool of bog water.
The horse was successfully hoisted out after “some delicate work”, according to a post on official Garda social media.
It is said to be recovering at the Hungry Horse Outside centre in Newtownforbes.
In a post on its Facebook page, the charity described the rescue as “a Christmas miracle”.
“We are so happy this horse made it out alive. It wasn’t easy,” the post said.
“No words can express the compassion shown to this horse by Longford gardaí and Longford Fire Brigade who even after hours of trying to rescue it never once gave up on him and stayed with him until the very end.”
The post said everyone who attended the horse “played a vital part in its rescue, worked as a team and had any piece of the rescue team been missing we are afraid it would have been a much different story.”
The operation was carried out in “desperate weather conditions”, according to the charity, which could not be immediately contacted by telephone.
“Thank you everyone and we wish you a very happy and peaceful Christmas,” it said on the online post.
“We’ll bring you all a little update on him later today as he makes his recovery.”