A no-swim zone has been declared for a beach in Dublin, as well as locations in Galway and Donegal by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Front Strand beach in Balbriggan, Dublin, failed water quality tests and will be off limits to swimmers for the rest of the summer.

Causes of poor water quality at Front Strand beach according to the EPA include sewage discharges and misconnections; faeces from dogs, birds and other animals and contaminated surface streams flowing through the town.

Lady’s Bay in Buncrana, Co Donegal and Trá na mBan in Galway were also deemed unsafe for swimmers. All three beaches remain open and accessible to the public, though swimming is prohibited.

Good news for sea swimmers, most of our bathing waters are Excellent or Good quality.
Read our Bathing Water report published today https://t.co/8Ogn7TGw5Y
The bathing season starts on June 1st @IrishWater @AnForamUisce @OpenSeaSwims @EPABeaches @LGMAIreland @WaterSafetyIre pic.twitter.com/6A5XKVlIZM

— EPA Ireland (@EPAIreland) May 12, 2023

Water at these three sites is deemed to be of poor quality, and swimmers are advised to avoid them. While there is no outright ban on swimming at these beaches, swimmers are warned to be at risk of suffering skin rashes or upset stomachs if entering the water.

These three beaches are however the outliers, as the majority of Ireland’s bathing waters have good or excellent water quality.

In recent years, several areas have also greatly improved their water quality drastically. Brook Beach in Dublin improved from poor quality in 2019 to excellent quality in 2022.

Across Ireland, 97% of beaches and bathing sites meet or exceed the minimum water quality standards, with 117 bathing sites having excellent water quality. The number of beaches deemed to have excellent water quality improved in 2022 to 117 from 115 the previous year.

Throughout the 2022 bathing season there were also 34 pollution incidents reported to the EPA that required temporary beach closures.

AS well as this, there were 186 “prior warning” notices when forecasts of heavy rain prompted local authorities to warn that run-off from surrounding lands or overflows of untreated water from storm pipes were likely to enter the sea.

Swimming were advised not to swim on those occasions. This was an 82% increase in the occurrence of such incidents from 2021.

The designated bathing season begins in Ireland on 1st June, though the EPA acknowledges many swimmers swim all year round.

The EPA recommends that swimmers should always check www.beaches.ie and the signage at the beach for the latest water quality information for their local bathing site.