{"id":457012,"date":"2026-05-19T17:53:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/457012\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T17:53:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:53:09","slug":"watch-brave-boy-who-rescued-family-welcomed-to-dail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/457012\/","title":{"rendered":"Watch: ‘Brave’ boy who rescued family welcomed to D\u00e1il"},"content":{"rendered":"

A 13-year-old boy who rescued his family after they became stranded in choppy waters off western Australia was welcomed to the D\u00e1il this afternoon.<\/p>\n

Austin Appelbee’s heroic efforts made headlines around the world earlier this year.<\/p>\n

He made it across 4km of ocean to raise the alarm after his mother – Monaghan woman Joanne – and two younger siblings were swept out to sea<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The family had gone out kayaking and paddle-boarding on 30 January when large waves flipped their boards and filled their kayak with water.<\/p>\n

Speaking before Leaders’ Questions, Ceann Comhairle Verona Murphy encouraged TDs to give a “very warm c\u00e9ad m\u00edle f\u00e1ilte” to an “incredible young man”.<\/p>\n

\"Taoiseach
\nThe Taoiseach with Austin Appelbee and his family<\/p>\n

She commended him for his “incredible act of bravery”.<\/p>\n

“What an incredible feat. We are delighted to have Austin and his family here in the public gallery,” she said.<\/p>\n

Her welcome was followed by a large round applause from around the chamber.<\/p>\n

\"screengrab
\n(L-R) Beau, Joanne, Grace and Austin Appelbee spoke to the media following their ordeal (file pic)<\/p>\n

Earlier, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin welcomed Austin and his family to Government Buildings.<\/p>\n

“He is a remarkable young man who showed extraordinary courage when his family needed it most.<\/p>\n

“Austin’s story is a vital reminder of water safety, and his bravery is an inspiration to us all,” he added.<\/p>\n

Read more:
Monaghan mother ‘amazed’ at son’s bravery in Australian sea rescue<\/a>
‘It’s wonderful for them to be alive and well’ – grandmother’s joy<\/a>
Australian police praise boy’s ‘calm, clear’ communication in family rescue<\/a>
President sends letter to Australian boy after sea rescue<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 13-year-old boy who rescued his family after they became stranded in choppy waters off western Australia was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-457012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}