Teams from Dynorod, Panda Waste and Bluestream Water Waste Services extracting waste from the septic tank at Bellinter House, Navan.

It's a classic quote from Oscar Wilde, in 'The Importance of Being Earnest', written over a century ago.

Lady Bracknell told Jack Worthing: "To lose one parent, Mr Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness."

One can just imagine Lady Brecknell, taking tea at Bellinter House, telling Ashling Cahill the same thing about her engagement rings. It wasn't Ashling's fault, though, but her friend, Imogen Gunner, who accidentally flushed Ms Cahill's engagement and pre-engagement rings down the toilet at the hotel outside Navan.

Somebody was now in the merde, as were the rings, reportedly worth €8,000.

On Thursday last, eight drain experts, four oxygen tanks and one brave man - we don't think he was the intended groom - took the plunge in a fruitless search for the missing rings. As a matter of fact, we haven't been told what the groom-to-be makes of the entire affair.

Ashling Cahill had placed the rings, which came from Harrods in London and Fields in Swords, in tissue paper overnight in her washbag while the two friends were staying at the hotel ahead of Ashling's wedding in November.

However, the washbag tipped over, spilling its contents, and Imogen then unwittingly flushed the ball of tissue paper down the toilet. Imogen, who will perform at her friend's wedding in November with her group Celtic Harmony, said she was thankful to everyone who had given their time generously free of charge in the search for the rings.

"It has really brought out the best in people. I'm going to have to find out the make and model of the rings and see if I can replace them," she said, adding she might be performing at more weddings to try and fund the purchase. "Ashling is disappointed but she can't believe how helpful people have been," Imogen added.

Experts from drain service Dyno-Rod, septic tank experts Bluestream Wastewater Service and local firm Panda Waste all came together in a day-long hunt at the hotel.

Cora Dwyer, general manager at Bellinter House, said: "We can't do anything more. There were eight experts from three companies searching for the ring. They emptied it with a bucket - I saw the guy coming back up out of the tank. They are devastated," she added.

The manager admitted encountering many surprises in the hotel business but said the ring hunt was a "first".

Barry Benson from Dyno-Rod used up four oxygen tanks dipping into the freshly drained septic tank on the hunt for the valuable rings after the firms had drained it through a sieve.

Jim Phibbs, director of Bluestream Wastewater Services, explained that they vacuum-sucked the septic tank, passing the contents out by bucket through a filter. "We got to the bottom of the tank. We've done everything that we could," he said.