Tag Archives: Kilkee beach

A do not swim notice has been issued today (Saturday) for Kilkee beach after a discharge of wastewater into the sea. On the advice of the HSE and in the interest of public safety, the public has been advised not to swim. The annual Kilkee Bay Swim was due to take place this weekend. The Blue Flag has been removed from Kilkee beach and has been replaced by red flags.      

AS Kilkee approaches its busiest time of the year, a swimming ban has yet again been imposed on the An Taisce Blue Flag beach. This closure is due to sewage entering the water on Wednesday, which followed an electrical fault at the pumping station. Swimming was prohibited for five months from mid-December 2016 to mid-May, following the failure of an operational safety device at the pumping station during a period of heavy rainfall shortly before Christmas, which resulted in sewage entering the water. On Wednesday afternoon, Irish Water issued an apology for the latest fault with the pumping station and said that the swimming ban would be in place for a number of days. “Due to operational electrical issues at Kilkee pump station earlier this morning, this caused the pumps to be out of service for a number of hours. This has led to a discharge of wastewater to the Victoria stream in Kilkee for a period of time. “The …

Clare County Council, on the advice of the HSE, has today (Friday) lifted restrictions relating to public bathing at Kilkee’s Blue Flag beach. The council confirmed the results of water sampling tests carried out on Thursday show the water is clean. The prohibition on bathing at Kilkee was introduced on Wednesday afternoon after the results of routine tests on water samples at the beach highlighted bacterial contamination. “On the advice of the HSE and following analysis of water samples, the council is happy to be able to announce the lifting of all restrictions relating to bathing at Kilkee,” commented Paul Moroney, senior engineer, environment section. “Public notices indicating bathing water restrictions are being removed while the Blue Flag will be flying at Kilkee beach this weekend.Clare County Council would like to thank the public for their understanding and cooperation over the past two days,” Mr Moroney added.

FOLLOWING advice from the Health Service Executive (HSE), Clare County Council has issued a swimming advisory notice for Kilkee beach asking that people not swim there due to an increase in the levels of bacteria found in the water. The council introduced the advisory on Wednesday morning. The noticed was issued after elevated levels of microbiological contamination were recorded in a routine bathing water sample in Kilkee, which experienced an exceptionally busy June Bank Holiday weekend. The council says that monitoring is ongoing and efforts are underway to identify the bacteria source. It is possible that the swimming ban could be lifted as early as Thursday.    

THE  sand has never been so scarce on Kilkee’s famous strand, according to Mayor Paddy Collins, who has also warned that the town’s luck will run out unless the seawall is maintained. “Sand levels at the moment in Kilkee have never been as low. Whether that sand is all pooled out in the middle of the bay and is going to come in on the next big tide, we don’t know,” Councillor Collins said at Monday’s meeting of Kilkee Town Council. “At a meeting we had here with Paul Moroney [environment section Clare County Council], we were talking about the sand shifting,” he added. Kilkee beach is hemmed in at either side by spectacular cliffs. The town mayor said Kilkee escaped the worst of the recent flooding in West Clare but said consistent high tides are a persistent threat. “We were very lucky in the storm. We were only an hour either side when the wind turned. Every tide this …