In thinking about our county, we must think about our coast says Jimmy Murphy

Joe McNamee reviews the Stranded Cafe, Pizzeria & Wine Bar, Garrylucas, Garretstown East, Kinsale.

Joe McNamee looks at why Kinsale has always had huge appeal for visitors, both at home and abroad

Cork County Council is providing specially-designed lifeguard stations on five beaches and a beach wheelchair service at another location.

Far from producing 'slow-motion running' lifeguards more focused on their looks, this academy will produce a steady stream of highly-trained rookie lifeguards equipped with an internationally-recognised qualification.

My cousin has his ear to the ground on the real estate scene around town.

Do you have any to add to the list?

Tommy Barker T

Bénédicte Coleman’s Beach Storage Project involves collecting debris off the shore and placing

THE Wild Atlantic Way tourism initiative is obviously a success, well planned and executed, paying dividends to the geographically marginalised communities through which it passes, writes Damien Enright.

Three popular beaches have been forced to lower their coveted Blue Flag.

The Visually Impaired Walking Group make great strides as they pound Cork paths, writes Dan MacCarthy

Nothing’s overlooked at Gorse Lodge, bar a picturesque creek by the sublime Kinsale area’s Sandycove Island, finds Tommy Barker.    

The regaining of Blue Flags shows that communities are winning the battle against litter on our beaches.

Beaches and marinas across the country are bathing in the warm waters of European approval — 86 of them have been awarded the prestigious Blue Flag status.

From Lahinch to Inchydoney and Fenit to Garretstown, thousands of people around the country braved the cold winter seas for the traditional Christmas Day swims.

Swimming bans could be put in place at a number of beaches in Co Cork in the coming days if heavy rainfall sweeps slurry into the sea and raises e.coli bacteria to excessive levels.

Baywatch made it look sexy but in reality, the role of a lifeguard is far more pedestrian, if no less essential: In between saving 413 swimmers last month, lifeguards reunited 353 lost children with parents.

Swimming has been banned on one of Cork’s premier beaches as a result of excessive E.coli bacteria levels in the water.

Cork County Council has set up a specialist engineering department which will look at protecting its 1,100km coastline from the effects of storms and rising seas caused by global warming.

THIS walk is best enjoyed in summer. These recent weeks, wildflowers are everywhere along the paths in Garretstown woods. Most are at their best this week. In late May, the bluebells were a little faded, but those growing in shade were a vivid, gentian blue.

Four of the country’s most popular bathing spots have failed to pass basic water cleanliness tests.

Four of the country’s most popular bathing spots have failed to pass basic water cleanliness tests.

People living in two villages in South Cork are to gather a petition against the axing of their bus service, which has left many students and pensioners stranded.

It may be the of Cork sporting teams but visitors came from as far as the US and New Zealand to show off their ginger roots at the fourth Redhead Convention.

As weather forecasts continue to suggest that 2013 will be the best summer the country has seen for years, four Irish Examiner writers profile their favourite beaches and hidden gems around the southern coastline.

Sixteen of the country’s best-known bathing spots have lost their coveted blue flag status this year after the introduction of more stringent standards for testing water quality by the EU.

Cork County Council has defended the quality of its coastal bathing water, blaming a more stringent marking criteria and the wettest summer for 50 years on the loss of Blue Flag status on four beaches.

Cork, the country’s largest coastal county, has lost four of its blue flag beaches.

A woman used a baseball bat to attack her ex-husband’s new partner and, on leaving the scene, smashed up a parked van.

BLARNEY, CORK €325,000

LAST week, an old pal reported seeing a pair of buzzards soaring over the woodland near Garretstown, east of Kinsale and, a few days later, I saw a single adult sailing high over the Bandon River.

Seven beaches in Co Cork have reopened after the latest test results showed a significant fall in E.coli levels.

Confusion reigned yesterday as lifeguards warned swimmers not to bathe at seven beaches in Co Cork, despite test results showing they were within permissible EU levels for the bacteria E.coli.

One of the seven Cork beaches closed due to pollution had more than six times the EU permissible limit for the potentially fatal bacteria E.coli.

Seven Cork beaches closed after a swimming ban was imposed last week due to excessive levels of E.coli will find out this evening if tests will clear them to reopen.

Bathing water at contaminated beaches in Cork had nearly four times the permitted EU level of the E.coli bacteria, which if ingested can cause severe vomiting, diarrhoea, and in some cases even death.

Some of Cork's beaches remain out of bounds for swimmers today.

Cork County Council has banned swimming at three beaches in the county as a precautionary measure after dangerous levels of e-coli were found in the water.

Three designated Blue Flag beaches are among seven bathing spots in Co Cork where dangerous levels of E.coli have been found.

The number of Irish beaches securing coveted Blue Flag status has hit an all-time high.

YOU have given us a four pages on sex trafficking over two days (June 8/9). While refraining from commenting directly on your choice of subject I ask you please to facilitate me in publicly expressing my horror at something that has happened here in Kinsale.