Water quality at nearly all bathing sites in Ireland met minimum EU standards last year, but the number of pollution incidents more than doubled, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned.
The EPA assessed more than 150 beaches and inland bathing sites across Ireland. Only one site – Dún Laoghaire Baths in County Dublin – failed to reach sufficient standards.
More than three-quarters of bathing waters were classed as “excellent”.
That’s good news for swimmers and for the tourist industry. But there are warning about increasing pollution cases exacerbated, the EPA says, by inclement weather.
“Incidents arising from urban wastewater were the most frequently reported cause of bathing water issues by local authorities, leading to temporary beach closures and restrictions throughout the season.
Runoff from agricultural land, dog fouling and misconnections (where wastewater from homes or businesses is wrongly connected to rainwater drains) also contributed to bathing water quality issues”, the agency added.
“Intense rainfall events occurred more frequently and across the entire bathing season in 2025, resulting in increased runoff from multiple sources. The number of bathing water warnings, issued prior to heavy rainfall and designed to protect bather’s health, nearly doubled in 2025.”
Commenting on the report, Roni Hawe, Director of the EPA’s Office of Evidence and Assessment, said:
“We are pleased to report that bathing waters continued to achieve a high standard of quality nationally in 2025. However, the greater frequency of heavy rainfall events throughout the bathing season highlights an increased risk to people’s health when swimming after heavy rainfall. These conditions can result in short‑term pollution which must be effectively managed if current high standards are to be maintained into the future. Local authorities need to strengthen their understanding of rainfall‑related pressures and put appropriate, climate-resilient measures in place to protect bather health”.
The ‘Poor’ classification at Dún Laoghaire Baths (Co. Dublin) was caused by wastewater overflows and dog fouling. Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council have produced a management plan which outlines actions to manage pressures and improve bathing water quality at this location. Targeted actions by Uisce Eireann and the local authorities at Lady’s Bay, Buncrana (Co. Donegal) and Sandymount Strand (Co. Dublin) has led to improvements in bathing water quality for 2025. Actions included investigation of pollution sources and upgrades to wastewater infrastructure at these two locations.”
The findings are revealed in the Environmental Protection Agency’s annual Bathing Water Quality report which has been published today.
The EPA evaluated water quality at 151 sites. 120 were judged excellent, 23 good, a further seven sufficient. Water at only one site was classed as poor.