Beaches in breach

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.

The highest reading for the bacteria, which is normally found in excrement, was at Youghal’s Front Strand.

It’s not safe to bathe where the level of faecal coliforms, such as E.coli, exceed 2,000 in 100ml of water. At the Front Strand a reading taken on Aug 14 was 7,701.