The quality of Ireland's bathing waters continues to be "very good", although they did not meet even EU minimum standards in some areas last year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
A total of 131 bathing areas - 122 seawater and nine freshwater - were monitored in 2005's bathing season and assessed for compliance with the minimum standards laid down by the EU Bathing Water Quality Directive and its more stringent quality targets.
The key findings were that 126 areas (96 per cent) complied with the mandatory minimum EU standards - down from 128 in 2004, while 119 (91 per cent) of bathing areas complied with the stricter EU guideline standards, compared with 115 in 2004.
Five bathing areas failed to comply with the EU standards for faecal coliforms - the main indicator of sewage pollution. They were: Merrion Strand (Dublin), Sutton Burrow Beach (Fingal), Clifden and Furbo/Na Forbacha (Galway) and Ardmore (Waterford).
Designated bathing areas were found to comply with both national and EU standards in just seven local authority areas - Donegal (19), Dún Laoghaire/ Rathdown (2), Galway city (2), Louth (4), Mayo (15), Westmeath (3) and Wexford (6).
Of the 131 sites, 107 (82 per cent) complied with the more stringent national standards specified in the 1992 Quality of Bathing Waters Regulations, which set out a broader range of parameters, including an important one for faecal streptococci.
Eleven failed to meet this test. They were Claycastle and Coolmaine (Cork), Furbo/Na Forbacha (Galway), Ardmore (Waterford), Bray beach (Wicklow), Loughshinny, Portmarnock, Rush and Sutton Burrow beach (Fingal), and Sandymount and Merrion Strand (Dublin). In 2005, seven of the nine designated freshwater sites complied with the limit values set out in the national regulations. The non-compliant bathing areas were Portumna (Galway) and Keeldra (Leitrim), both of which failed to meet the standard for transparency.
EPA programme manager Gerard O'Leary said the decline in water quality in some areas needed to be addressed. However, he noted significant improvements at some beaches near urban areas due to the provision of new sewage treatment plants.
Two beaches in Galway (Silver Strand and Salthill) had shown an improvement in bathing water quality since 2003, and a major contributory factor was the commissioning of the new sewage treatment plant at Mutton Island, close to Salthill, in May 2004.
The plant ended "the daily discharge of millions of gallons of raw sewage into Galway Bay", Mr O'Leary said. In Dublin Bay, the Ringsend treatment plant continued to have a positive impact, with good water quality recorded at Dollymount Strand.
Minister for the Environment Dick Roche said he was pleased that the EPA had confirmed that new sewage treatment plants were paying dividends. "It is particularly gratifying to see good results in popular urban bathing areas like Dollymount and Salthill." He noted that his department's €2.7 billion water services investment programme for 2005-2007 included plans to tackle the sources of pollution in problem areas such as Sutton, Clifden, Ardmore, Keeldra, Balbriggan, Loughshinny, Portmarnock and Spiddal.
Mr Roche said the problem at Merrion Strand might be linked to local storm water overflows, and is being investigated by Dublin City Council and DúLaoghaire-Rathdown County Council. "We can never afford to be complacent about water quality," he said.
The EPA releases its Bathing Water Quality Report annually. The findings of the 2005 report, along with a map of the quality of Ireland's bathing waters, are available on the EPA website: www.epa.ie/NewsCentre/ ReportsPublications/Water