Donal Hickey: We must clean up our act when it comes to bathing water

With a busy season ahead for popular Irish beaches, more needs to be done to protect the quality of our bathing waters

Bodyboarding at Claycastle beach in Youghal. File Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Expect our beaches to be more crowded than ever this summer as Irish people will be holidaying at home.

But how clean and safe are the waters at these much-loved golden sands which dot the coastline? The EPA’s 2020 Bathing Water annual report has noted a slight improvement in bathing-water quality relative to 2019, with 75% having excellent quality.