Dogs will have to be kept off Donegal beaches, to maintain their Blue flag status

Dogs will have to be kept off Donegal beaches, if they are to maintain their Blue flag status, it has emerged this week.

And the rule applies to all coastal counties in the Republic, An Taisce has said.

DonegalLive.ie has been told by An Taisce that such directions already existed, but had not been fully implemented in Ireland to date.

They are set down by the international Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), not by any Irish agency and An Taise have been asked to advise local authorities of the situation.

The matter came to public attention this week, when it emerged that Kerry County Council was discussing the issue.

The rule applies when the blue flag is flying during the bathing season which commences each year on June 1 and usually continues in Donegal’s case, until the end of the season which is early to late September (in the cases of Rossnowlagh and Bundoran). 

Ian Diamond, An Taisce’s Blue Flag coastal awards manager said the emphasis was to keep dogs away from areas used by bathers during bathing seasons and was not a ban on dogs on beaches per se.