Kilkee businesses criticise Irish Water as beach remains closed

KILKEE Chamber has slammed Irish Water as the beach remains closed to visitors – predicting it will lead to reputational damage.

Clare County Council has confirmed that, on the advice of the HSE, public bathing notices and red flags indicating swimming is prohibited will remain until further notice.

It came after Irish Water reported a discharge from the wastewater pumping system.

In a strongly worded statement this Monday, Cillian Murphy of the the Chamber has accused the utility of being “quite frankly irresponsible”, suggesting its attitude “points to gross indifference at best”.

“Kilkee has long had an issue with wastewater treatment. Like 44 other towns in Ireland, there is no treatment, and for at least 30 years, there has been calls from local people to address this issue. State agencies and local politicians have all buried their heads in the sand, hoping it would somehow resolve itself," Mr Murphy said.

The Kilkee Chamber has called for an engineer from Irish Water to visit the area within seven days to answer a number of questions.

“Many have chosen to spend disposable income on holiday in Kilkee. This bathing ban means their holiday activities are curtailed. They have chosen the town precisely because they trust the beach is a safe and wonderful space for their children to play on.

This trust has been breached and the consequences will be felt for a long time in reduced bookings and visitor numbers to the town,” Mr Murphy said.