THE elected members of Mayo County Council this week said they want to see no more losses of Blue Flag beaches next year after Ross beach in Killala lost it's Blue Flag when this years Blue Flags were announced earlier this year.
Fine Gael's Killala based councillor Jarlath Munnelly told the July meeting of the council: “I don’t want to see this happen again, the loss of the Blue Flag was something that could have been avoided. I think this was a management problem. Let it not happen again and ensure Ross gets its Blue Flag back,”
Head of environment, climate change and agriculture for Mayo County Council, Martin Keating gave the elected members a presentation on the Blue Flag and Green Coast awards for the county this year, outlining that there are 11 Blue Flag beaches in the county in Elly Bay, Mullaghroe, Golden Strand, Clare Island, Dugort, Keel, Carrowmore, Dooega, Keem, Bertra, and Mulranny, and six Green Coast awards in Silver Strand, Carrownisesky, Cross (Belmullet ), Termon, Srah, and Portcloy.
He outlined that the reason that Ross had lost its Blue Flag status was down to lack of lifeguard cover in 2015 and Ross will be eligible for inclusion in the 2017 Blue Flag programme. The awarding of a Blue Flag is based on meeting four different criteria, which are water quality, environmental information and education, safety and services, and environmental management.
Achill based Fianna Fáil councillor Paul McNamara once again raised his concerns that some of the five beaches in Achill could be in danger of losing their Blue Flag status. He said there were issues earlier in the season over the opening of toilets in Keel beach, he told the meeting: “It is my opinion that some people think that the Achill summer season does not start until schools close but in Westport it is all year round. It is unacceptable that the lifeguards are responsible for opening toilets when they go on duty at 12 o’clock. It;s unacceptable for the people and tourists in Achill and that should not happen. I spent May and June asking for toilets to be opened, it shouldn’t come to that.”
