The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Eibhlin Byrne, wishes to congratulate Dublin City Council on retaining its Blue Flag Award and also its Green Coast Award for Dollymount Strand.  This is the first occasion when the 2009 Blue Flag and Green Coast Awards Ceremony takes place on Dollymount Strand with the Awards being announced at 12 noon today.

"Dublin City Council has shown significant commitment to maintaining excellent water quality standards at Dollymount" said the Lord Mayor.  "It is a real achievement to have a Blue Flag beach in the middle of our capital city and this amenity is further honoured by receiving a Green Coast Award this year.  Well done to all those who have endeavoured to keep Dollymount's Blue Flag flying high. Dollymount Strand has an important place in the memories of many Dubliners past.  It is vital that we maintain it for future generations".

ENDS

Notes To The Editor
 

Blue Flags are awarded on the basis of compliance with EU bathing water quality standards. There are 27 conditions in total, ranging from environmental management, to beach management, dog and traffic control to environmental education.

The Green Coast Award applies to beaches which also have excellent water quality but may be less developed or be in a more rural location.  The full range of Blue Flag-type facilities might not be appropriate at these beaches.  The Green Coast award originated in a partnership between five of the East Coast counties and Wales.  In 2008 the programme was extended to embrace the whole coastline of Ireland.  This will be facilitated through partnership between An Taisce, Tidy Northern Ireland and the Environment and Heritage Service of Northern Ireland. 

This is the 21st year of the Blue Flag programme operating within Ireland.

The Blue Flag scheme is operated by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE), a non-Governmental organisation, and is administered in Ireland by An Taisce. These bodies inspect beaches and conduct an initial assessment of applications for Flags based on the previous year's bathing water quality results and compliance with the other criteria of the scheme.  A national jury comprised of members with appropriate qualifications/expertise in environmental, conservation, marine, and consumer interest areas assists them in this task. The recommendations from each national jury are subsequently assessed by FEE's International jury, which determines actual Blue Flag awards.