Six popular bathing spots have failed to meet minimum EU standards, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s annual report which is released today.

IN the light of Brexit and the talk of soft and hard borders, this is a topical novel as it is set on the blackthorn-hedged borders of Northern Ireland and the Republic.

92% of Irish people will not pay anything for the water they use and nobody will get a bill, writes Victoria White

You can’t be sensible all the time. You must go with your heart.

WHEN the sun is shining and skies are blue is there a nicer place to be than the beach? Even if there’s only a mild hope of a favourable weather, we flock to the seaside.

Ireland has the highest percentage of beaches and lakes with poor quality bathing water in the EU after Estonia, according to a report in the lead-up to the holiday season.

Three-quarters of Irish bathing spots are rated as excellent, but seven areas —including notable spots such as Youghal and Ardmore —are rated as having poor quality water, according to a report.

Last Sunday they were in their local church, full of excitement and energy as they helped their grandmother collect leaflets and tidy up; yesterday they were buried side by side in the graveyard outside as their mother Kathleen, other family, friends, and community looked on.

A post mortem will be carried out this morning on the body of a man killed in an industrial accident in Co. Wexford yesterday.

Two men who were found guilty to forging a will each had sentences imposed yesterday.

Wexford start-up company Scurri.com has taken an innovative high-tech approach to managing parcel delivery and is preparing to take on the UK market.

A report by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board report has revealed that a fisherman who drowned after his boat capsized was not wearing a lifejacket — despite the presence of safety equipment on board.

CLEAR the decks, nail your colours to the mast and check the cut of your jib.

FOUR of the country’s top bathing spots have failed to meet basic water cleanliness marks.

Four of the country’s top bathing spots have failed to meet basic water cleanliness marks.

TWO of Ireland’s most talented drivers, Waterford’s, Craig Breen and Fermanagh’s, Alastair Fisher compete in the WRC Academy series that begins this weekend alongside Rally Portugal, the third round of the World Rally championship.

The recovery of a missing fisherman’s body more than a month after he was lost at sea has brought bittersweet relief to his heartbroken family and friends, rescuers said.

A body has been pulled from the water off the Co. Wexford coast.

The family of a fisherman missing off the south-east coast face another agonising night after the search operation had to be suspended.

An air and sea search resumed today for a fisherman missing off the south east coast after his boat overturned.

A LIFELONG fisherman who celebrated his 64th birthday on December 30 is feared drowned after the small boat he was fishing on sank off the south-east coast at Duncannon, Co Wexford, yesterday morning.

Navy divers are due to join air and sea teams tomorrow in the search for a fisherman feared drowned off the south east coast after his boat sank.

A 30 foot fishing boat has sank in the Waterford Estuary between Arthurstown and Duncannon this lunchtime.

THE quality of Ireland’s sea bathing water is the worst since monitoring began 18 years ago, and among the poorest in Europe, according to the EU’s annual bathing water report.

IN my father’s time, he could buy a house, drive a Standard 10 car, join the golf club, have a family fortnight in Duncannon (Co Wexford) each year, feed and educate us children – all on a single salary commensurate to the lower middle class.

The majority of services in the country are operating with some delays, particularly in the east where road and weather conditions are difficult, Bus Éireann have said.

A DIP in water quality because of last summer’s heavy rain is being blamed for a downturn in the amount of Irish beaches receiving blue flag awards.

LAST year’s wet summer is being blamed for a downturn in the number of bathing areas meeting EU quality targets.

EIGHT years after Stephen Byrne drove the car containing his two sons and himself off Duncannon pier, three years after Sharon Grace drowned herself and her two daughters on a lonely stretch of Wexford coastline, and one year after the Dunne family were found dead in their house in Monageer, last weekend’s events in Clonroche have once again stunned the south-east.

IRISH society is having to face a growing litany of parents who murder their own children before deciding to escape this life by suicide themselves.

AS GARDAÍ appealed for witnesses to two car crashes, one of which left a nine-month-old baby girl with serious injuries, three of the seven people killed in a horrific weekend of smashes were named yesterday.

Gardaí in Wexford are appealing for witnesses to a crash yesterday afternoon in which a baby girl was seriously injured.

The tragic events of the last 10 days have left the southern coastal community plumbing the depths of grief, loneliness and despair. Caroline O’Doherty explains why fishing is a riskier business than ever.

TWO fishermen were miraculously plucked from the sea hours after their fishing boat sank off the Saltee Islands yesterday afternoon. A third man is still missing.

A search was continuing tonight off the Co Wexford coast for a fishing boat that failed to return to port.

IRELAND has received its highest ever number of Blue Flags for water quality with 78 beaches and four marinas being awarded the honour by the International Blue Flag Jury for 2005.

AS an Irish person living abroad for a number of years, I was dismayed, on a recent visit to Co Wexford, to discover that the time-honoured practice of allowing cars to drive on Irish beaches is still alive and well.

THE murder of a Kilkenny mother of two has sent shock-waves through the city.

Six people have been killed in road accidents in the last 24 hours.