Swimming has been banned at every beach on the south Dublin coastline for the next week after sewage leaked into the water from a local treatment plant.
The ban covers some of Dublin’s most popular swimming spots, including the Forty Foot, Sandycove Beach, White Rock Beach and Seapoint.
A similar ban has been put into place at Dollymount Beach, although Fingal County Council said no other beaches on the north Dublin coastline are affected.
The leak was caused by heavy rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, which led to the sewage overflowing at Ringsend wastewater treatment plant.
Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council issued the no-swim ban in consultation with the HSE, who noted that ‘any organisers of any coastline or water based leisure or sporting event’ should also be aware.
An official notice read, ‘Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, in consultation with the Health Service Executive, have put temporary bathing prohibition notices in place at all of our designated public bathing sites in the county, starting today June 6.
“It is expected that this temporary prohibition notification will be in place for seven days.
‘All areas along the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown coastline whether designated as bathing areas or not are considered covered by this notice.’
Ossian Smyth, Green Party Councillor for Dún Laoghaire, commented, “I would say a lot of people went swimming today and didn’t know.
He added, “Sea swimming has become massively popular. We would have 500 people at a time in Seapoint or at the Forty Foot on a busy day.”
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