Salthill and Silverstrand beaches retain coveted ‘Blue Flag’ status

Beaches in Salthill and Silverstrand retained their Blue Flags and Green Coast awards despite major difficulties in recent years which could have seen them demoted.

Vandals destroyed two sets of toilets along the Prom last November and replacements have so far not been built while Galway City Council waited to settle an insurance claim.

Toilets are seen as a crucial element in securing a coveted Blue Flag awarded by the environmental watchdog An Taisce and are regarded by tourists and visitors alike as a signal a beach is both safe to swim in with adequate facilities.

Repair works are being tendered for and it is expected the toilets at Blackrock and Ladies Beach will be reopened at the end of June. This weekend, the Council is installing temporary toilets to facilitate bathers and walkers in the interim.

Silverstrand was badly damaged by the ferocious storms of Winter 2013 and had to undergo significant work in order to return it to its original condition.

Both beaches have managed to retain their Blue Flags every year since first getting the award in 2006. They are among just six of the 81 beaches awarded to be conferred with dual status after retaining the national Green Coast award. These awards are given to areas classified as “exceptional places to visit”.

Portmarnock, Portrane and Donabate in north Dublin, Salthill and Silver Strand in Galway and Rosses Point in Sligo have secured this “dual status”

It had been a decade since the beaches had got the environmental seal of approval and came two years after Mutton Island sewage treatment plant was opened.

Grattan Beach in the Claddagh and Ballyloughane Beach in Renmore were ineligible for Blue Flag status this year, the former due to the lack of public conveniences and the latter for water quality.

Bathing is banned at Ballyloughane Beach for all of 2015 due to the results of water samples from 2011 to 2014.  Irish Water and the Council are working together to ensure that the beach can be reopened to swimmers in 2016.

In an update last February, Cllr Terry O’Flaherty said work had been carried out on the Michael Collins Combined Storm Outflow (CSO), but substantial required was still required for the Beech Avenue CSO requires substantial works and investment. The Murrough outfall required a more detailed examination.

County Galway’s five beaches retained their Blue Flags for the coming bathing season.