Tag Archives: beach

CLARE County Council, on the advice of the HSE, has placed a prohibition on swimming in Kilkee due to a malfunction of Irish Water sewage infrastructure. Emergency remedial works are being undertaken by Irish Water. The notice states, “Do not swim until further notice.”

AHEAD of the May Bank Holiday Weekend, Clare County Council is urging the people of Clare to maintain their efforts to suppress Covid-19. “The sacrifices that people have made, combined with the rollout of the vaccination programme, are having an impact, but we all need to continue doing the things that protect us from Covid-19. This will help to reduce the chance of outbreaks in healthcare settings, workplaces, our homes, and schools,” said Pat Dowling, Chief Executive of Clare County Council. “We have cause for cautious optimism as we look to the future. This is a reflection on the truly commendable commitment that the people of Clare have shown. I understand that many people feel fatigued. The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) has advised that adherence with public health advice, combined with the vaccination programme, is key to exiting this pandemic in the coming months. That prospect gives us huge motivation to move forward. “As we look ahead to …

A FILE is to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after a man was arrested for failing to follow instructions to return home when  detected by Shannon Gardaí, last Thursday, at a checkpoint set up as part of Operation Fanacht.  The man was travelling with a passenger and told officers he was going to Kilkee beach. When he failed to heed the advice of Gardaí to turn around, he was arrested. The incident, according to Superintendent John Galvin was an isolated one, with arrests being a “last resort” in the enforcement of the Covid-19 travel restrictions.  Superintendent Galvin said that the Operation, which saw a number of permanent and rolling checkpoints operate across the country between Wednesday, April 8 and Monday, April 13, found a very high level of compliance in this county with the public health guidelines.  “We found that very, very few people travelled over the Easter Weekend, things were very low key and there …

A CLARE brother and sister, hailed as heroes after saving a swimmer from a rip current in Spanish Point, have revealed it was “lucky” circumstances that resulted in them being in the right place at the right time. Bernard and Róisín Cahill from Clarecastle dashed from their car after spotting a swimmer in trouble in the sea off the West Clare beach.  The quick-thinking off-duty lifeguards leapt into action, using a borrowed kayak to rescue the middle-aged man and bring him to safety. “We would never normally be coming through Spanish Point that late. The circumstances that surrounded us being there – you couldn’t make it up, it was so lucky. And any other people in the car driving past that situation mightn’t have even spotted him.  It’s mad,” said Bernard. After spending the day working as a lifeguard on Lahinch beach, he and a colleague travelled to White Strand to pick up Róisín, who had also been working as …

Clare County Council will provide updates on conditions at the county’s Blue Flag beaches on its Twitter and Facebook accounts from Saturday next. The updates will feature latest sea, water quality and weather conditions, as well as tide in and tide out times for Ballycuggeran (Killaloe), Cappa, Fanore, Kilkee, Lahinch, Mountshannon, Spanish Point, Whitestrand Doonbeg and Whitestrand Miltown Malbay. The updates coincide with the commencement of lifeguard cover at County Clare beaches this June Bank Holiday Weekend. Lifeguard cover will be provided at Clare’s Blue Flag beaches from 11.00am to 7.00pm this Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Cover will continue on Saturdays and Sundays during the month of June, while there will be full-time time cover at these locations as well as at Bishops Quarter (Ballyvaughan) and Seafield Quilty during the months of July and August and the first two weekends of September.

Irish Water has appointed contractors to carry out repair and upgrade works to the Kilkee wastewater pumping station, with all works on site due to be completed within the next two months, in time for the start of the 2017 bathing period. A ‘Do Not Swim’ notice issued by Clare County Council in December remains in place pending completion of the work at the pumping station. This notice was issued in the interest of public health following an emergency discharge of storm water containing elements of wastewater from Kilkee pumping station into the sea via Kilkee beach. The emergency discharge occurred due to a failure in an operational safety device at the pumping station, combined with heavy rainfall in the area. Since then, Irish Water has commissioned the manufacture and installation of a new surge protection system to replace the one which failed in December. A specialist electrical contractor has been appointed to review all electrical issues at the pumping …

SWIMMING has been banned indefinitely by Clare County Council at Kilkee beach following an instance of sewage entering the water from the pumping station this week. The latest ban is the second in six months at the same location and for the same reason and comes just days before the annual charity Christmas Day swim at the beach. On Wednesday afternoon, Clare County Council issued a prohibition notice on swimming at Kilkee beach “until further notice”, on the instruction of the HSE and in consultation with Irish Water. “The restriction has been introduced following the failure of a storm surge vessel at the Irish Water pump station in Kilkee. The situation will be kept under review,” the council statement said, while confirming that signage notifying the public of the prohibition on bathing would be erected. Irish Water also confirmed that a ‘do not swim’ notice has been issued following an emergency discharge of storm water, which contains elements of wastewater, …

KILKEE town mayor Paddy Collins has claimed that Kilrush gardaí didn’t have a copy of the Kilkee beach bylaws to consult when they were called by him to the strand races on the local beach on Sunday, September 22. He made the claim at last week’s meeting of Kilkee Town Council, where he also claimed Kilrush gardaí “ignored” the presence of traders on the beach. “We had an issue with traders and parking again this year. I phoned the organisers, who said they had no authority to prevent people coming in or to ask them to leave. So I phoned Kilrush Garda Station on the Sunday at about 12.30pm,” Councillor Collins said at this week’s monthly meeting. “The garda said he’d send out a car. Half an hour later, the car was in town. It didn’t stop, ignored it and just drove past. [Councillor] Elaine Haugh also phoned at 2.30pm. There was a bouncy castle present, which had been removed …