Laboratorists at Cork County Council have cleared up the ‘confusion’ around the Do Not Swim notice at Cape Clear, as the notice is in place due to a crumbling wall which means there are issues with access to the water, and not due to any issue with the water itself.
Cllr Isobel Towse clarified to The Southern Star that the issue at South Harbour, is due to inadequate access to the water, not poor water quality, and that the last test conducted showed excellent water quality.
Physical signs at South Harbour are to be updated. Wording on the beach monitoring website is also incorrect: both reference poor water quality as the reason for the restriction, but this is thankfully not the case.
The West Cork councillor spoke to the laboratorists at Cork County Council, who indicated that there were raised bacteria levels in the sea at Cape Clear and Sherkin Island on August 11th.
However, these were likely due to algae, and the water quality at both locations went back to normal soon after this event and have remained ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ since
‘However, the council now deem South Harbour, Cape Clear currently not safe to access for monitoring due to a crumbling wall, among other physical factors.
Therefore a do not swim notice is still in place and monitoring is paused but this has led to confusion as the most recent test showed excellent water quality. I want to assure people this is an issue around access to the water, not the quality of the water itself.’
‘I understand the job to fix the wall has gone out to tender. Most people swim at North Harbour anyway, as access is safer and other amenities are nearby, with the beautiful South Harbour used for kayaking and other activities. I hope this notice will not deter anyone from visiting the island, as it has nothing to do with water quality. I will be pushing for a safe, monitored bathing water for Cape Clear’.
