Sea swimmers hold bay rally

A LOCAL group held a ‘protect our bay’ rally on Dollymount beach last week to highlight issues surrounding water quality in Dublin Bay. 

Dozens of sea swimming enthusiasts took part in the ‘Love Dublin Bay’ event. 

Cllr Donna Cooney (GP), who represents the Clontarf Local Electoral Area (LEA) and is an all-year swimmer, founded the group.

The rally took place a week after Dublin City Council was forced to issue a ‘Bathing Prohibition’ on its three beaches – Dollymount, Sandymount and Merrion. 

At the time, the city council said it received notification from Irish Water that there had been a significant overflow from the storm storage tanks at the Ringsend Wastewater treatment plant into the River Liffey during the early hours of August 9. 

This was as a result of adverse weather conditions and significant rainfall over the Dublin area. 

Irish Water said it regretted the impact this may have on beach users.

Cllr Cooney pointed out that sea swimming events are growing in popularity as people discover the benefits for health and wellbeing.  

She said solutions to the problem are needed.   

“This situation cannot continue,” she told Northside People. 

“It is seriously undermining our most important amenity – Dublin Bay. 

“The extreme weather and heavy rain events which cause these overspills are not going away, so mitigation measures must be put in place or we will keep ending up with the same results. 

“There are solutions for minimising the amount of stormwater entering the drainage system, ending up in the Ringsend treatment plant, and leading to the regular sewage-polluted discharge into our beautiful, internationally recognised, UNESCO-designated Dublin Bay each time we have heavy rain.

“We are also requesting newer technology with quicker scientific testing methods so harmful bacteria like Ecoli can be detected.”

As reported in Northside People earlier this month, Cllr Cooney was among a number of Green Party councillors who met with Irish Water officials to discuss issues surrounding frequent sewage contamination of Dublin bathing waters from the Ringsend treatment plant.

“I met with the DCU Water Institute to review and discuss their newly developed water quality testing kits,” said Cllr Cooney.  

“This new method of testing water quality by detecting high enzyme levels which indicate the presence of harmful amounts of bacteria needs to be recognised legally and invested in. 

“This testing would enable us to have quicker results which would inform us if the water is safe to swim in.”

At that meeting Irish Water said it is investing over €400 million in the staged upgrading of Ringsend Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

“This investment will allow the plant to treat the increasing volumes of wastewater arriving at the plant to the required standard and capacity,” said a spokesperson for the company.  

“This project will enable future housing and commercial development and ensure that Dublin is able to sustain continued growth.”

Irish Water added that it notifies local authorities and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of any incidents of overflow that occur at the plant that could impact the receiving waters.