A young man has been airlifted to hospital after he fell from a 25 metre cliff in Co Clare this morning.

The alarm was raised at around 5am when the man in his 20’s is understood to have lost his footing and fell.

The incident happened on the outskirts of Lahinch where a small group had been socialising.

After falling from the cliff, the man landed in water but was pulled ashore within minutes by one of the group.

Members of the Doolin unit of the Irish Coast Guard along with an ambulance form nearby Ennistymon were alerted and rushed to the scene.

The Shannon based Irish Coast Guard search and rescue helicopter was requested to airlift the injured man to hospital.

The casualty was placed in a stretcher and winched from the base of the cliff onto the helicopter. He was then flown to Galway University Hospital for treatment.