TWO BEACHES IN Ballybunion, Co Kerry have been closed to swimmers after samples taken from the water were found to contain “elevated levels of bacteria”, Kerry County Council has said. 

The prohibition against swimming and bathing is in place at Ballybunion North and South beaches.

“Do not swim or bathe in the water until further notice,” a tweet from the Council read.

⚠️Prohibition on bathing at #Ballybunion beaches

Following sampling, which shows elevated levels of bacteria in the water, a prohibition has been placed on bathing and swimming at Ballybunion North and South beaches

Do not swim or bathe in the water until further notice pic.twitter.com/TjTVnbZhq9

— Kerry County Council - Comhairle Contae Chiarraí (@countykerry) June 28, 2023

Local councillor Robert Beasley says he expects the bans to remain in place “at least until the end of the week”. 

“They took samples and they didn’t come back very good. They have taken fresh samples and it’ll be maybe Friday evening or Saturday morning before the results of these samples will come back.”

“They’re trying to locate the source of the discharge, it was an agricultural discharge apparently,” he said while mentioning that he had been made aware of such an incident earlier this week. 

“It’s a very unfortunate situation because it’s been a very quiet season and it’s a very bad time for it to happen, but hopefully it will be resolved and sorted in the next couple of days.”

When asked if he thought the local sewerage treatment facility might be at fault, he replied, “I think not, no. Well, I hope not.”

“We have a treatment plant south of the town and it’s pretty good,” he said, indicating that agricultural waste was the likely source of the pollution. 

“This is the first serious situation for a long while now,” he said.