Northern Ireland’s beaches recognised for quality

Northern Ireland continues to enjoy some of the best bathing water quality in Europe, provisional figures have revealed.

Around the coast, 22 of the 23 identified bathing waters met the strict European standards for bathing water quality. A further three candidate sites were monitored for the first time at Cloughey, Kilclief and Ballyhornan. Over half of these sites (15 of 26) met the ‘Excellent’ standards required as a prerequisite for a coveted Blue Flag Award.  A further 10 sites met the ‘Good’ or ‘Sufficient’ standards, with Ballyholme just missing out on the ‘Sufficient’ and failing to meet the minimum standard.

The provisional results were announced today at the Better Beaches Forum held in the Northern Ireland Environment Agency’s (NIEA) offices in Lisburn.  The Forum members are the Department of the Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Northern Ireland Water, coastal local authorities, Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, the National Trust, Surfers Against Sewage and some coastal community groups. The Better Beaches Forum meets annually and works throughout the year collaboratively to:

• Improve water quality
• Improve beach cleanliness, facilities management and signage
• and keep the public and media better informed.

David Small, Chief Excecutive of NIEA said: “This is a solid performance for Northern Ireland’s beaches, especially given the wet August weather. 

“The marginal failure at Ballyholme is disappointing. However, as compliance is assessed on the summer data over a four year period, it is perhaps not surprising. It can take time to measure improvements. The raw data shows an improvement at Ballyholme between 2016 and 2017. These improvements are likely to be as a result of the extensive work being carried out in the catchment and the work being carried out on the sewerage infrastructure in Bangor by Northern Ireland Water.

"Our beaches also contribute to the health and well-being of locals and visitors alike. It is key that we continue to be focussed on collectively improving our management of this priceless resource.” 

Wet weather events impact on bathing water quality by increasing runoff from agricultural land and also because sewerage systems are designed to overflow in these conditions. Met Office reports are that August rainfall was at 130% of the average figures for the month.

Notes to editors: 

1. The results are as follows:

• Excellent Quality Identified Sites – Magilligan (Benone), Magilligan (Downhill), Castlerock, Portstewart, Portrush Mill – (West), Portrush Whiterocks, Portballintrae, Helen’s Bay, Groomsport, Tyrella, Murlough Co. Down and Cranfield Bay.
• Excellent Quality Candidate Sites – Cloughey, Kilclief, Ballyhornan
• Good Quality - Ballycastle, Ballygally, Brown’s Bay, Crawfordsburn, Millisle
• Sufficient Quality – Portrush Curran (East), Waterfoot, Carnlough, Ballywalter, Newcastle
• Poor Quality – Ballyholme

2. DAERA officials work closely with a range of stakeholders through the Better Beaches Forum and produced a Better Beaches Report 2015.  Local councils, the National Trust and NIEA have a statutory role as bathing water operators.

3. DAERA continues to work with Northern Ireland Water to improve the water environment through targeted investment in improved sewage treatment and with the agriculture sector to administer a number of agri-environment incentive schemes.  Both sectors are also regulated.

4. In 2015, a new EC Bathing Water Directive came into full effect, replacing the older 1976 Directive. It introduced new standards for bacteria in water which are approximately twice as stringent as the old Directive. It contains four standards; Excellent, Good, Sufficient and Poor. Compliance with these standards is calculated on bathing water quality data over four years.

5. The new “Sufficient” standard is approximately equivalent to the old “Good” standard.

6. In Northern Ireland 23 sites are formally identified under the Bathing Water Directive and a monitoring programme has been in place since 1988.  The Directive aims to afford a certain level of health protection to bathers in waters where bathing is traditionally practised by a large number of people.

7. In 2016, DAERA commenced a formal review of bathing waters and sought nominations for candidate bathing waters to be assessed for identification.  The sites meeting the usage criteria at Cloughey, Kilclief and Ballyhornan were monitored during the 2017 season.  It is likely that these sites will be formally identified in 2018.

8. All media queries should be directed to the DAERA Press Office on 028 9052 4619 or email DAERA Press Office Out of office hours please contact the duty press officer via pager number 07623 974 383 and your call will be returned. 

9. Follow us on Twitter at: @daera_ni

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