IRELAND’S BEAUTIFUL BLUE FLAG BEACHES

HOW THE BLUE FLAG PROGRAMME WORKSThe Blue Flag season for beaches in Ireland coincides with the bathing season which runs from the beginning of June to the middle of September. The marina season extends until Decem-ber. Each year the authority managing the beach or marina applies for the Blue Flag award and an international jury de-cides if the beach is eligible for the award. During the season inspectors assess each Blue Flag beach and marina to ensure compliance with the criteria. If there are any problems they are reported to the authorities and either the problem is rectified or the Blue Flag is removed.

BLUE FLAG BEACHES & MARINASIreland and Northern Ireland 2017

BLUE FLAG : 30 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE The International Blue Flag programme is operated in Ireland by An Taisce – The National Trust for Ireland with support from the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and local Government and on behalf of the Foundation for the Environ-ment Education (FEE).

In 1987, the "European Year of the Environment", the Founda-tion for Environmental Education (FEE) presented the French concept to the European Commission, and the Blue Flag Pro-gramme was launched as one of the year’s community activ-ities.

This year the Blue Flag celebrates 30 years as an International programme.

The Blue Flag will be awarded to more than 4,250 beaches, marinas and sustainable boating tourism operators across 47 countries in 2017.

In 1988 the first year Blue Flags were awarded in Ireland 19 beaches and 2 marinas were awarded. Since then the Blue Flag programme has grown from strength to strength with 81 beaches and 7 marinas achieving the accolade this year.

WHAT IS THE BLUE FLAGThe Blue Flag is an international voluntary eco-label for beach-es and marinas. The mission of the programme is to promote environmental education, implementation of safety and envi-ronmental management systems and monitoring of environ-mental conditions to reduce the impact of human activity and commit to partnerships and collaborative action to promote the sustainable development of tourism.

The Blue Flag Award is based on compliance with criteria cov-ering aspects such as:• Environmental information and education• Water Quality• Safety and services• Environmental Management

All Blue Flags are only awarded for one season at a time. For further information on these criteria please log on to: www.blueflagireland.org

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SOME OF THE BEACH CRITERIA ARE:

• Information about the Blue Flag must be dis-played.

• Environmental educa-tion activities must be offered and promoted to beach users.

• Information about bath-ing water quality must be displayed.

• The beach must fully comply with water quality sampling and frequency requirements.

• The beach must fully comply with standards & requirements for wa-ter quality analysis.

• Waste disposal bins/containers must be available at the beach in adequate numbers and they must be regularly maintained.

• First aid equipment must be available at the beach.

• Facilities for the separa-tion of recyclable waste materials should be available at the beach.

• An adequate number of toilet or restroom facili-ties must be provided.

• Access to the beach by dogs and other do-mestic animals must be strictly controlled.

• All building and beach equipment must be properly maintained.

• An adequate number of lifeguards and/or lifesav-ing equipment must be available at the beach.

• At least one Blue Flag beach in each munici-pality must have access and facilities provided for the physically disa-bled.

For a full list of beach criteria please check out the Blue Flag website www.blueflagireland.org

Please send on your Blue Flag beach photos to us at :blueflag@eeu.antaisce.org Blue Flag Ireland @blueflagireland

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SOME OF THE MARINA CRITERIA ARE:

• Information relating to local eco-systems and environmental phenom-ena must be available to marina users.

• The marina is responsi-ble for offering at least three environmental education activities to the users and staff of the marina.

• The marina must have an environmental policy and an environmental plan.

• The marina must have facilities for receiving re-cyclable waste materials such as bottles, cans, paper, plastic, organic material etc.

• Bilge water pumping fa-cilities should be present at the marina.

• Toilet pumping facilities must be present in the marina.

• All buildings and equip-ment must be properly maintained and be in compliance with national legislation.

• If the marina has boat repairing and washing areas, no pollution must enter the sewage system, marina land water or the natural surroundings.

• Safety precautions and information must be posted at the marina.

• Facilities for disabled people should be in place.

• A map indicating the location of the different faculties must be posted at the marina.

• The water in the marina must be visually clean without any evidence of pollution, e.g. oil, litter, sewage or other evidence of pollution.

For a full list of beach criteria please check out the Blue Flag website www.blueflagireland.org

REPUBLIC OF IRELANDIan Diamond, Coastal Awards ManagerAn Taisce – Environmental Education Unit5a Swifts Alley, Francis Street, Dublin 8Tel: 01 4002210Email: idiamond@eeu.antaisce.orgwww.blueflagireland.org

NORTHERN IRELANDKeep Northern Ireland Beautiful Tel: +44 28 9073 6920 Email: enquiries@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.orgwww.keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org

BLUE FLAG INTERNATIONALSophie Bachet Granados, International Blue Flag DirectorFoundation for Environmental Education (FEE)Scandiagade 13, 2450 Copenhagen SV, DENMARKTel: +45 6124 8081 Email: sophie@fee.globalwww.blueflag.global

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

The Blue Flag programme in Ireland is funded by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government

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