Bathing water quality at Balbriggan and Loughshinny beaches has improved

Beach Management Plans prepared and implemented by Fingal County Council coupled with a reduction in stormwater events during the 2024 bathing water sampling season has resulted in two beaches within the county losing their Poor status in the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2024 report on Bathing Water Quality.

Front Strand, Balbriggan had been deemed Poor for four successive years since 2020 while Loughshinny Beach was deemed Poor in 2023.

Loughshinny bathing water quality improved to “Sufficient” status for 2024 while Balbriggan improved in water quality to the extent that it successfully attained a “Change” in status.

Change in status means that bathing water classification for Balbriggan in 2025 will be classified according to the sampling results attained in the 2025 bathing water season.

The trend of improving bathing water quality in Fingal means that the all-season notices advising people not to swim will be lifted at both beaches for 2025.

The Beach Management plans, introduced by Fingal County Council’s Environment section, identified site specific risks at both beaches and included an action plan designed to try and mitigate the identified risks which are believed to have caused the poor water quality ratings in the first instance.

Identified risks to bathing water quality included urban misconnections, urban waste water accidental releases, urban wastewater stormwater overflows, agricultural run-off, dog fouling, bird fouling, water pollution from oil leaks in both harbours, and the challenges caused by heavy rain.

The Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Brian McDonagh, said: “I welcome the news that Fingal no longer has beaches whose bathing water quality is rated as Poor by the EPA. A lot of work has been done in Balbriggan over the last five years and it is great to finally see that effort reaping positive results.”

The EPA also reported improvements at North Beach, Rush and South Beach, Skerries.

In Rush the rating moved from Good in 2023 to Excellent in 2024 while in Skerries the rating moved from Sufficient in 2023 to Good in 2024.

Brook Beach in Portrane was the only one to see a slip in rating as they dropped from Good to Sufficient.

In addition to North Beach, Rush, Velvet Strand, Portmarnock and Balcarrick Beach, Donabate also received a rating of Excellent.

The Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, AnnMarie Farrelly, said: “Our Environment team has put a lot of work into implementing their Beach Management Plans in Balbriggan and Loughshinny so it’s great to see improvement in the ratings for both beaches, but particularly Balbriggan after four consecutive poor ratings.

“A lot of work has taken place in Balbriggan to identify the causes of pollution, particularly around misconnections, and hopefully the improvement in water quality in recent years can be maintained”

Since 2018, there have been 70 bathing water quality tests carried out on Front Strand, Balbriggan which resulted in one Poor rating in 2018, two in 2019 , one in 2020, none in 2021, three in 2022, one in 2023 and none in 2024.

Since the Poor rating recorded on June 12, 2023, the 23 samples taken have yielded 18 Excellent ratings, four Good and one Sufficient.

David Storey, Fingal County Council’s Director of Environment, Climate Action, Active Travel and Sport. said: “We have worked hard with stakeholders like Uisce Éireann to identify and rectify the problems that were causing issues in Balbriggan.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t a one year scenario as the EU classifies bathing waters according to water quality monitoring results attained over a four year period so one poor sample could undo all the good work.”

As summer approaches, Fingal County Council reminds all beach goers to act responsibly by not leaving litter scattered around for someone else to clean up.

It also reminds dog owners to ensure they only leave paw prints in the sand and to pick up after their pets.

“Nobody wants to deal with somebody else’s dog poo, it can impact on water quality and also comes with severe health implications for other beach goers.” Mr Storey said.

Swimmers are advised to always check www.beaches.ie for the latest water quality information before visiting their local bathing site.

Bathing Water Quality 2024

Excellent: Balcarrick Beach, Donabate; Velvet Strand, Portmarnock; North Beach, Rush;

Good: South Beach, Rush; South Beach, Skerries; Burrow Beach, Sutton;

Sufficient: Brook Beach, Portrane; Loughshinny Beach; Claremont Beach, Howth.

Changes: Front Strand, Balbriggan