Catchment News

Home News Before you jump in the sea… check out beaches.ie

Before you jump in the sea… check out beaches.ie

The 2024 Bathing Season starts on 1 June. Beaches.ie can show you the beaches near you that are monitored regularly during the bathing season to check their bathing water quality. Information on bathing water quality and updates on monitoring results during the bathing water season, which runs from 1 June to 15 September, is always available on www.beaches.ie

Information on bathing water quality and updates on monitoring results during the bathing water season which runs from 1 June to 15 September is available at www.beaches.ie.

Swimmers should always check www.beaches.ie and the signage at the beach for the latest water quality information for their local bathing site.

Throughout this summer water quality information and details of any incidents affecting bathing waters will be displayed on www.beaches.ie

When open water swimming – take the right safety precautions.

And remember to Protect your health with the 48 hour rule – after a heavy rainfall event it is important to avoid contact with the water for at least 48 hours to prevent the risk of getting an illness.

Learn more:

About author

EPA Catchments Unit

Administrator

The EPA Catchments Unit is based in Dublin, and the team is involved with catchment science, chemistry, ecology, hydromorphology, modelling, Geographic Information Systems and planning. We work with the wider EPA, all of our local authorities, the Local Authority Waters and Communities Office, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, and other public bodies and Departments to ensure we have the best available data and information about our catchments.

Who is involved?
Quite simply, everyone in Ireland has a role to play. This can be from something as simple as making sure you don’t pollute your local stream, or a local community working together to establish a Rivers Trust to enhance the rivers and lakes in their area, to a Government Department or Agency helping a Minister implement a new policy to help protect and enhance all our water bodies.

This website has been developed and is maintained by the Environmental Protection Agency, and is a collaboration between the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Local Authority Waters Programme.

Local Authority Waters Programme

The Local Authority Waters Programme coordinates the efforts of local authorities and other public bodies in the implementation of the River Basin Management Plan, and supports local community and stakeholder involvement in managing our natural waters, for everyone’s benefit.

Environmental Protection Agency

The EPA is responsible for coordinating the monitoring, assessment and reporting on the status of our 4,842 water bodies, looking at trends and changes, determining which waterbodies are at risk and what could be causing this, and drafting environmental objectives for each.

Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

The Department is responsible for making sure that the right policies, regulations and resources are in place to implement the Water Framework Directive, and developing a River Basin Management Plan and Programme of Measures to protect and restore our waters.