Lahinch water bacteria sparks ‘huge concerns’

by Páraic McMahon paraic@clareecho.ie

TEMPERATURES are forecast to hit close to twenty degrees in Lahinch over the coming days but the popular coastal spot remains under a do not swim notice.

Since Tuesday afternoon, a red flag has been flying at Lahinch. It follows the detection of elevated levels of bacteria in the water and runoff from the catchment after a period of heavy rainfall in recent days.

Do not swim notices are becoming an annual occurrence on Clare beaches with ten such notices issued across the past four years.

Speaking to The Clare Echo, Senator Roisin Garvey (GP) highlighted, “It’s a serious situation when you have to close a beach, it makes people not have faith in swimming, Lahinch is a hugely popular tourist destination and for locals who want to swim”.

Senator Garvey warned, “It is a huge health issue, we know of people who have got e-coli poisoning and have been sick for days, it can affect pregnant women and people oith existing health challenges, a young woman who got kidney failure is still in treatment, we need to see more regular testing. This is a huge issue and we have to solve it. What do the local authority need, they don’t want to be closing down the beach and want their blue flag beach maintained, we need action”.

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