Fountainstown Losing Blue Flag Beach Status Met With Dismay

Writes Leo McMahon

Deep disappointment over Fountainstown losing its Blue Flag beach status and not yet knowing what exactly caused this was voiced by Cllr Audrey Buckley (FF) and fellow members of the county council’s Carrigaline Municipal District (MD) at their monthly meeting.

It comes against the background of huge investment in the popular seaside resort in recent years including a new slipway, a swimmer’s shelter/changing area with seat, resurfacing and re-lining car park for vehicles and casual trading, picnic tables, information signs and new footpaths plus soon to be upgraded public toilets.

      Cllr Buckley had a motion requesting the council, in collaboration with An Taisce and relevant agencies, undertake an immediate review into the loss of the Blue Flag status, identify the causes and develop a time-bound action plan to address water quality, wastewater infrastructure, beach management and public amenities with the objective of restoring the Blue Flag status at the earliest opportunity.

In a response, Ger Barry, director of services in planning and environment, explained that bathing water classification was determined annually in a rolling four year monitoring programme of e coli and enterococci bacteria and classified as ‘excellent’, ’good’,  ‘sufficient’ or ‘poor.’

Fountainstown Beach

 ‘To be eligible to apply for a Blue Flag or Green Coast Award for the upcoming season, bathing water must have an ‘excellent’ classification. Unfortunately, the 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 programmes determined a ‘good’ classification for 2026,’ he stated.

‘No single catchment source has been identified as being responsible for the decline in classification. It is hoped the 2026 monitoring programme will be of sufficient quality to restore classification for ‘excellent’ for 2027.’

Mr Barry said the council’s environment directorate had planned the following measures to identify the pressures on water quality: 1) farm inspections under the Agriculture Inspection Plan; 2) septic tank inspections under the National Inspection Plan plus a public information campaign; 3) sampling of water bodies discharging into the bathing area; 4) exploring smart monitoring technologies to support field investigations; 5) DNA profiling of water to identify the origin of pathogenic bacteria and 6) along with the support of the Local Authorities Water Programme (LAWPRO), community engagement with stakeholders.

Mr Barry anticipated these would operate under the overall umbrella of the EU Recommended Minimum Criteria for Environmental Inspections programme (RMCEI) with a preliminary report at the end of this year. All other beach management measures at Fountainstown would continue, including water quality monitoring and public information messaging.

‘It’s very disappointing and unfortunately the environmental department don’t know where it’s coming from,’ remarked Cllr Buckley who urged that the issue be kept on the agenda. ‘Fountainstown is a showcase with fabulous work done there by the council and others doing great work there.’

This was acknowledged by director of services, Sharon Corcoran who said monitoring was meticulous. Heavy rains were often a factor and there was a lot of this last winter.

Seconding, Cllr Patrick Donovan (FF) said it was a good motion and a shame to lose the Blue Flag status as so much investment in a resort used all year round.  An cathaoirleach Cllr Ben Dalton-O’Sullivan (Ind) concurred but pointed out that the assessment was rigorous.

On a positive note, MD officer Denise Kidney reported that the contractor had been chosen for the Fountainstown toilet project and works would start soon.  Cllr Buckley also welcomed the fact that an eco-toilet would be provided at Myrtleville and asked that the issue regarding the land for the car park at the seaside resort be resolved as soon as possible.