Beaches declared safe to swim in

All seven of the Cork beaches that were closed due to the unacceptable levels of E.coli are now open again. Unfortunately the weather means that it is unlikely that many people will want to go swimming today.

Today Cork County Council have announced that “following agreement with the HSE, the advisory no swimming notices are being taken down at all the beaches”.

In a statement on their website, they also say that “the levels of E.coli have significantly decreased and current results from samples taken on Wednesday 22 August indicate further water quality improvement”.

The Environmental Protection Agency website has confirmed that the seven beaches are all open again. The affected beaches are Youghal, Claycastle, Redbarn, Coolmaine, Garretstown, Oysterhaven and Garryvoe. They have all been closed due to the high levels of the bacteria found in the water since last Friday.

The results of water quality tests taken on Monday were due to be revealed on Wednesday evening but problems at the lab meant they were only widely known this morning. 

Speaking on Wednesday, Alan McHenry, manager of the Quality Hotel Youghal, was very annoyed at the length of time it was taking to find the results.

“The length of time it has taken to turn around these samples beggars belief,” he said.

He added: “It’s been sampled regularly but the County Council seem to be confident that the sample will come back safe, which means people could have been swimming there for the last three days.

E.coli is contained in excrement and can cause serious illness and potentially, death.

There was confusion yesterday as lifeguards warned swimmers not to swim at the beaches, although the test results showed that the water quality was clean enough to swim in.