Scientists get to work on Waterford beach after ‘disappointing’ loss of Blue Flag status

Scientists have got to work on a beach in County Waterford after the “disappointing” loss of its Blue Flag status, a council meeting has heard.

Sinn Féin councillor Kate O’Mahoney spoke on the subject of the recent awarding of Blue Flags at the June meeting of the Dungarvan-Lismore Municipal District.

Cllr O’Mahoney said: “Just on the Blue Flag status on our beaches, I’m really delighted to see that Clonea has been awarded the Blue Flag again this year and the Curragh, the Gold Coast and Whiting Bay have all been awarded Green Coast status.

“I think it just goes to show we’re so lucky that we are a coastal county with really amazing amenities just a stone’s throw away.

“I don’t think we realise how lucky we are at times, but it is disappointing that Ardmore Beach has lost out on a Blue Flag.

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“I suppose I was asking what is going to be done by the council to examine why this beach missed out and what do they plan on doing to ensure Ardmore Beach receives a Blue Flag again next year?”

Meanwhile, Labour Party councillor Thomas Phelan said that it was “somewhat ironic” that Ardmore had lost its Blue Flag status, given that a water activity centre is currently being constructed there.

Cllr Phelan continued: “Hopefully it’s just a temporary blip and that the situation can be reversed and that we’ll have our water activity centre and our Blue Flag beach.

“Is it something that we as a council can influence or control in terms of the conditions that need to be met to qualify for Blue Flag status and if that’s the case, what can we do or what are we doing to remedy the situation?”

Fine Gael councillor Tom Cronin also expressed his disappointment with the result, having been involved with the maintenance of Ardmore Beach “for years”.

Cllr Cronin said: “There’s only two tests and I think one of them was only slightly over and the other one was a little more but not an awful lot over the limit but anyway, we lost the flag because of that.

“We won’t get any answers for it even though it was something to do with sewerage or some sort.

“Whether that was from agriculture, [which will] probably get blamed anyway even though I don’t think it was but maybe someone will answer for us today.”

In response to the elected members, Dawn Wallace, Senior Executive Officer at Waterford City and County Council, agreed that it was a disappointing result.

Ms Wallace said: “It was disappointing for all of us that Ardmore lost the Blue Flag this year.

“You’re absolutely right, Cllr Cronin, because they aggregate the results over a four year period, one poor result can knock out the ability to get a Blue Flag.

“We didn’t lose it on anything else, it was purely on water quality.”

She went on to highlight that the loss of the beach’s Blue Flag does not mean the water quality is poor.

“The important thing that’s going to outweigh the cons is that the water quality reduced from excellent to good.

“The water quality is still good. It’s not poor water quality. It’s very disappointing for all of us.”

Ms Wallace outlined the work that the council has already started to make sure that the water quality is up to standard in Ardmore.

“What’s already been happening is that the water quality team has been trying to triangulate where the source of pollution is coming from.

“That involves testing different points in the stream to understand where the pollution is coming from and the sources of that pollution.

“One way we do that is sending some of those results to labs to test the different types of fecal matter within the matter because that’s what causes poor results.

“We can ask the labs to look at that, whether that’s horses, dogs, cattle, humans etc, so that’s part of the work that’s underway.”

She went on to reveal the council’s plans to expand its water quality team over the coming months, which she believes will help with the research.

“The team is expanding, the water quality team. We are currently recruiting for three new assistant scientists [...], so the team effectively doubling in size.

“Once we’ve got everyone in situ we’ll be in a much better position to understand where these failures are coming from and to look to have some of those rectified wherever we can.”

Ms Wallace concluded by pointing out that the council cannot fully control the water quality due to the actions of “private individuals or indeed other statutory bodies”.

She reassured councillors that they will be updated on the work that is undertaken over the coming weeks and months.