'It gives people hope': born-again Irish beach captures world's attention

Achill islanders ready themselves for wave of tourism after reappearance of Dooagh sands washed away in storms in 1984

For Achill islander Emmet Callaghan, the beach at Dooagh where he grew up sounded as mythical and unreal as Brigadoon, the mysterious Scottish village that only appears every 100 years.

The 300-metre stretch of golden sand where his grandfather used to collect seaweed for villagers to fertilise their land was destroyed in 1984 by Atlantic storms that battered Ireland's north-west coast - seven years before Callaghan was born.