Search Results for 'The Beaches'

An Taisce announced the International Blue Flag and Green Coast Award recipients at a virtual ceremony this week.

The announcement that two Mayo locations - Keel, Sandybanks, in Achill and Carrowmore beach in Lousiburgh, have been chosen as two of twenty two new water sports centres to be developed nationally as part of a €19 million project - has been welcomed.

The Easter Bank Holiday weekend - which starts today - normally marks a time that Mayo sees a massive influx of visitors to the county. However, due to the Covid-19 crisis and travel restrictions, fears have been expressed this week that the county could see an increase of people travelling to Mayo to use holiday homes.

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.

Achill based Cllr Paul McNamara said this week, that's he's afraid that Achill is in danger of losing some of it's Blue Flag beaches in future because of the lack of services such as toilets and bins at some of the beaches.

Not all of the 12 Blue Flag beaches in the county are patrolled by a lifeguard which has caused concern among locals according to councillor Michael McNamara.

Mayo County Council is to engage with An Taisce and other agencies over the life guarding requirement for beaches to retain a blue flag. The issue of having lifeguard cover on all blue flag beaches during the bathing season has caused a problem in the county. A number of blue flag beaches in the county that did not get much use by the public during the bathing season still have to have lifeguard cover during this season to maintain blue flag status.

The Mayo County Council has reached an agreement with An Taisce that beaches at Dooega and on Clare Island which get relatively little use will have lifeguard cover at the weekends only. Martin Keating, acting director of services for Mayo County Council, was giving a report on the Blue Flags awarded to beaches in Mayo. He told the meeting that in order to keep a Blue Flag a beach must have an adequate number of life guards on duty, but with some beaches having very low usage there was a difficulty in life-guarding them. Therefore the council came to an agreement with An Taisce for this summer season to have lifeguards on duty at Dooega and Clare Island at weekends only, but both beaches would be monitored and re-assessed at the year end with the other beaches.

Parents of secondary school children have been asked to supervise their children by a senior council official following incidents of public concern at Mayo beaches.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Galway’s beaches and bathing areas this week as the high of achieving six Blue Flag Awards was dampened by the loss of two.