Spiddal Parish Council has called on Galway County Council to take immediate action over pollution which has cost Spiddal beach its Blue Flag.
The parish council claims that the pollution has been caused by a sewage pipe running into the sea without any primary treatment. The loss of the Blue Flag comes a week after the European Commission published a report showing that Spiddal's main beach was one of four in Ireland which failed to meet basic water quality standards.
The situation has been reported by the parish council to the Office for Environmental Enforcement, which is seeking information from the local authority about the cause of a serious deterioration in the quality of bathing water.
Mr Seán Ó Coistealbha, a member of the parish council, said that he had predicted the Blue Flag loss three years ago.
The pipe, constructed by Galway County Council, had contributed to a build-up of deposits, he said, and rapid development in Spiddal village would exacerbate the problem.
During a high tide last week - known as "rabharta mór na n-éan" - substantial quantities of pollutant material were thrown up, Mr Ó Coistealbha said.
Galway County Council refused to comment on the issue yesterday .
However, North-West Independent MEP, Ms Dana Rosemary Scallon, questioned the veracity of the information and said that the European Commission had not been made aware that Spiddal had lost its Blue Flag status.
Spiddal was one of two Co Galway beaches which lost its Blue Flag status.
The second was An Trá Mór, Caol Rua in Indreabhán. An application by Galway County Council for a flag for Spiddal pier was turned down because of the presence of high faecal coliforms during testing.
Mayo County Council also lost flags at three beaches - Keem on Achill island, Carrowmore beach outside Louisburgh and Mullaghroe beach, Belmullet.
Keem was also one of the four beaches nationally which failed to reach minimum standards, and the Office of Environmental Enforcement is contacting Mayo County Council on the issue.The other two were Bray beach, Co Wicklow, and Balbriggan, Co Dublin.
