It's not Siberia, it's Lough Ree...

It's a scene most of us would associate with Siberia or the frozen lakes of Canada, but on Saturday, as these exclusive pictures show, Athlone's Garda Water Unit walked across Lough Ree pulling a dinghy behind them as they attempted to reach Inchbofin, the last inhabited island on the lake. The Water Unit travelled across the frozen lake to the home of John Connell to ensure that he was okay during the big freeze and didn't need any supplies. While the gardai were able to walk across most of the lake, they had a dingy with them in case the ice broke at any moment. They checked on Mr Connell and asked if he wanted to be brought to the mainland, but he declined. He did however tell them that his cattle needed fodder, which kickstarted an operation that saw the Gardai, Army, Air Corps and the local community in Muckinagh come together to airlift fodder to the island on Sunday.