Council explains why no bathing was permitted at beach in Newcastle on Saturday

Having been criticised along with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency for not providing enough public information about the closure, the council said bathing was not allowed due to “elevated bacteria levels”.

Posters along the promenade told members of the public that bathing was not allowed, but there was very little activity on social media to inform people travelling to Newcastle what would await them.

DUP councillor Glyn Hanna said: “The beach is very popular, you’ll have a lot of people down in the water, but if there’s an issue of safety you have to close it.

“It maybe could have been communicated in a better way in order to inform as wide a number of people.

“Information is everything. The community needs to be kept informed in order to reassure them. Communication must be transparent. They need to be told if the beach is closed, why the beach is closed and when it is safe to go back in the water.”

A spokesperson for Newry, Mourne and Down District Council said: “Between the end of May and mid-September the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) undertakes weekly water quality tests at the district’s designated bathing waters. The tests monitor bacteria levels (E.coli and Intestinal Enterococci) with the results posted locally.

“The results from water samples taken at Newcastle on Friday 16 June were received the following morning, Saturday 17 June. These results identified elevated bacteria levels and, as per the water safety procedure, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council immediately erected posters with temporary advice against bathing.

“On Saturday 17 June DAERA officers assessed the sampling area and no cause for the elevated bacteria levels was identified. On Sunday 18 June, results from a second set of samples showed that the elevated bacteria levels were no longer present and the water was again safe for bathing. The temporary warning posters were removed by the Council this morning, Monday 19 June.”

In a 2022 Bathing Water Compliance report, the results in Newcastle dropped from ‘Good’ in 2021 to ‘Sufficient’.