Great news for avid sea-swimmers.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have reported that the majority of Irish swimming spots have excellent water quality, with the exception of three locations. Out of 148 locations, 144 sites met or exceeded the minimum standards for bathing. 117 sites had excellent water quality, which is an improvement of two from the same time last year. Just three bathing sites were deemed poor, and the advice is to not swimming there; these are Balbriggan (Front Strand Beach), Lady’s Bay, Buncrana and Trá na mBan, An Spidéal. Balbriggan was impacted by sewage discharges and misconnections; animal faeces and contaminated surface streams flowing through the town. Lady's Bay was impacted by the Buncrana waste water treatment plant, combined stormwater overflows, and surface run-off, while Trá na mBan was deemed poor due to the Spiddal sewer network, run-off from agriculture, and discharges from septic tanks. According to the EPA website,

"There were no new bathing waters identified in 2022. The EPA urges local authorities to designate more official bathing sites to protect swimmers’ health, which includes designating the large number of beaches and popular swimming spots that they monitor but which haven’t been formally identified as bathing waters."

The official bathing season in Ireland begins on the 1st June and finishes on the 15th September. You can read the entire report on the EPA's website. Header image via Shutterstock READ ON: - Met Éireann expects sunshine and high temperatures this weekend - 3 Irish food businesses were served with closure orders in April