It is understood Mr Smyth had been with a friend in the vicinity of the Murlough Nature Reserve when he went missing at around 12.30pm on Sunday. Given his state of health, an extensive search operation was put into effect immediately.

This continued into Sunday evening and overnight, with the search area expanding all the time. The police, for example, combed the roads and hedgerows between Clough and Downpatrick on Sunday, while Coastguard personnel expanded their search area to include the Tipperary Wood area of Newcastle, along with Ardilea, Mountpanther and towards Ballykinlar.

At first light on Monday there were further searches along the beach between Newcastle and Dundrum’s inner bay.

Eventually Mr Smyth was located by dog handler John Binns after the Newcastle-based Search and Rescue Dog Association had carried out an extensive search lasting seven to eight hours.

According to team leader Neil Powell it had been decided to return to the area where Mr Smyth had last been seen and to intensify the search there. That led to Mr Smyth being found at Keel Point, largely none the worse despite being missing for over 24 hours.

With overnight temperatures falling to a bitterly cold -8C at around 3am on Monday morning, one of the many rescuers involved in the ultimately successful operation commented that it was a miracle he was still alive.

“We are all absolutely delighted that this has ended on such a positive note,” the rescuer added.