There are hopes that a ban on swimming and bathing at two of Sligo’s most popular beaches will be of only short-term duration, and that it might be possible to lift it over the weekend.
The ban comes at the start of what is always one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year.
Sligo County Council has erected signs at the beaches saying bathing is prohibited due to an increase in the levels of bacteria in the water, and that swimming may cause illness.
It says that the cause is unknown, that investigations are ongoing and that the duration is expected to be ‘short-term.’
It adds that the Environmental Protection Agency and the HSE have been advised and that follow-up monitoring has been undertaken.
However, the notices will remain in place until water quality returns to an acceptable standard.
Despite the signs, there were people in the water at Rosses Point and Mullaghmore yesterday evening.
These people at Rosses Point were looking at the ‘Do Not Swim’ signs . . . they gave their reaction to Ocean FM News, although some mistakenly thought the signs related to what seemed a rocky beach because the tide at the time was so far in, there was no sandy beach to be seen.
Sligo Fianna Fail Councillor Donal Gilroy says there an urgent need for wastewater treatment plants in both areas.
