TWO Cork beaches have been dealt a blow with the news that they have lost their Blue Flag status.
Garrettstown
Garrettstown and Redbarn have both been demoted having failed to attain the stringent water quality standards required to hold a prestigious Blue Flag award.
Garrylucas, Inchydoney, Owenahincha, Barleycove and Tragumna have retained their certification in time for the summer season.
Separately, Royal Cork Yacht Club also retained its flag while Kinsale Yacht Club was awarded one for the first time since 2003.
The international quality mark for bathing waters requires that beaches achieve, among many other elements, compliance with the EU guide values for both microbiological parameters.
Bathing waters which have less developed infrastructure in place are eligible for the Green Coast Award (GCA), which is facilitated through partnership between An Taisce, Tidy Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.
Cork has picked up 10 such awards, retaining nine from 2015 and seeing Red Strand, Clonakilty, pick one up for the first time due in part to improved water quality over the past few years.
Rocky Bay in Nohoval did not retain GCA status due to failure to meet the excellent water quality status required.
85 Blue Flags in total are being awarded this year, 79 to beaches and six to marinas, with an additional 56 Green Coast Awards assigned to less populated beaches.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark this year’s awards, Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government Simon Coveney said: that “while the quality of Ireland’s bathing water remains very high, we must not become complacent.” “We must continue to invest in improving water services infrastructure so as to improve the quality of our waters.”“This will support the great effort being put into the Blue Flag Programme by the local authorities and coastal communities.”
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