News

North Coast pick up nine awards at Blue Flag and Seaside Awards Ceremony!

Wed, May 27, 2015

PRESS RELEASE Friday 22th May 2015 North Coast pick up nine awards at Blue Flag and Seaside Awards Ceremony! Eight beaches within the new Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council area have been given awards at the ‘2015 Blue Flag and Seaside Awards Ceremony’ held in Portrush on Wednesday 20^th May. Ballycastle Marina also picked up a ‘Blue Flag Marina Award’ at the awards ceremony which recognises beach and marina excellence throughout Northern Ireland. Blue Flags are awarded to beaches offering the highest standard of visitor facilities including toilets, lifeguards, first-aid during peak hours and disabled access. In order to promote an inclusive atmosphere for families with small children, activities such as windsurfing are zoned and access for dogs is restricted on most Blue Flag beaches. While Northern Ireland’s stunning coastline has long been hailed as a match of anything in the world, Benone beach has achieved something very few places in the world can match, having just claimed its 25^th consecutive Blue Flag Award! The international award, which recognises first class facilities and the highest standards of water quality, was awarded to Benone Beach, Ballycastle Marina  and five other beaches within the Causeway Coast and Glens Borough including; Downhill, Castlerock, West Strand, Portrush, Whiterocks and Portstewart Strand. The Borough was also awarded with four ‘Seaside Awards’; Portstewart Strand, East Strand Portrush and Ballycastle beach were awarded with ‘Resort’ awards for their facilities and Waterfoot beach awarded a ‘Rural’ award for its unspoilt character. The Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council, Michelle Knight-McQuillan commented, “This is fantastic news for the Borough. The North Coast is well known for its stunning beaches and to be recognised with these awards is fantastic. “Council staff are dedicated to improving the quality of our beaches and I’m glad this work has been recognised. In addition to the Blue Flags Awards, I’m delighted that Portrush East and Ballycastle both received the UK-wide Seaside Award, which recognises beaches with good water quality. Following the difficult summer season last year, with heavy rainfall affecting water quality on a number of occasions, this is an excellent result. “The residents of this Borough should also be commended for their efforts in helping to keep our beaches clean throughout the year, they should be very proud. I’d encourage everyone to come visit the North Coast over the holiday season and see for yourself how beautiful our beaches really are.” Minister for the Environment, Mark H Durkan, said,  “These Blue Flag and Seaside Awards show the dedication that coastal councils and the National Trust contribute to providing first class, safe and enjoyable beaches. The coast of Northern Ireland is an amazing place to visit, and these Awards demonstrate how much work has gone into promoting our excellent beaches. “The Good Beach Summits, which we initiated in DOE, have helped to improve standards at beaches around our coast.  Fantastic progress has been made and I trust that next year even more beaches and marinas will apply for these awards.” Ian Humphreys, Chief Executive of ‘Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’, the environmental charity which administers the awards locally, said “A Blue flag means excellence; that we can proudly say nearly half of the designated bathing waters in Northern Ireland are world class is quite an achievement. “With a further ten receiving Seaside Awards, including for those beaches in more secluded beauty spots, we once again have a fantastic coastal offering for everyone who lives here and loves here as well as our growing numbers of visitors.” Colin Neill, Tourism NI Board member said “Northern Ireland’s stunning beaches are amongst our greatest tourism assets, and keeping them clean and safe is of the utmost importance to us.  By driving standards and safeguarding our environment, these awards play a vital role in helping to showcase the natural beauty of our coastline, and in improving the overall visitor experience of incoming tourists.  I am delighted that this year Northern Ireland boasts an impressive number of award winning beaches, offering an excellent choice of clean and safe places for our visitors to enjoy this summer.” With weeks of fine weather in April and May sparking thoughts of a ‘barbeque summer’, beaches around Northern Ireland are gearing up for an influx of visitors. To help everyone find their ideal award winning beach or marina, ‘Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’ and ,Tourism Northern Ireland have launched a visitor map listing the facilities offered at each beach and suggestions for activities or attractions to make for a memorable day out. The guide will be available from via all Tourist Information Centres, at Award beaches and from Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council Offices at Coleraine, Ballymoney, Limavady and Moyle. ENDS Notes for Editors Northern Ireland Blue Flag Beaches 2015

  Northern Ireland Blue Flag Marina’s 2015

  Northern Ireland Seaside Award Resort Beaches 2015 (Note some beaches applied for both Seaside Award and Blue Flag)

Northern Ireland Seaside Rural Award Beaches 2015 (Note some beaches applied for both Seaside Award and Blue Flag)

Interview: Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’ Chief Executive, Dr Ian Humphreys is available for interview.  He can be contacted on 028 9073 6920, 079 0561 3546 / 0785 0880 249 or email ian.humphreys@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org For Further Information: For detailed information on Blue Flag or Seaside Awards, the assessment criteria, water quality, the beaches receiving the awards and other information please contact Christopher Allen, Local Environmental Quality Co-ordinator on 028 9073 6920 / 077 9664 7012 or at chris.allen@keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org Notes to editors The Resort Seaside award recognises beaches within reasonable access of the urban community with developed facilities and providing varied recreational opportunities. Water quality at these beaches will meet good EU standards. The Rural Seaside award also recognizes good EU water quality but will generally have more limited facilities and will not be part of a resort or any significant development. Blue Flag is an award scheme for beaches run internationally by FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education).  Each of the 46 nations running Blue Flag within FEE has an organisation which facilitates the awards in their country.  For Northern Ireland it is Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful.  Blue Flag Awards are supported by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Coca Cola.  Blue Flag operates around the world and a full list of participating countries can be found at http://www.blueflag.org/ Northern Ireland is committed to full implementation of the revised EC Bathing Waters Directive (rBWD), 2006 and is presently in transition from the 1976 Bathing Waters Directive to full implementation of the rBWD. This transition period will be completed when the annual classifications are announced at the end of the 2015 bathing season and appropriate signage is erected at all identified beaches before the start of the 2016 season. FEE, who run the Blue Flag Award internationally has adopted the revised EC Bathing Waters Directive, 2006 earlier than required and before the appropriate reporting is in place for Northern Ireland. Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, a charity dedicated to environmental responsibility, is the province’s leading authority on litter issues, and provides a unique service to communities, businesses, councils and schools throughout Northern Ireland. Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful runs the BIG Spring Clean, Northern Ireland Litter Survey, TIDY Business, the annual Litter Summit, Eco-Schools, Young Reporters on the Environment and the Blue Flag, Green Coast Award and Seaside Awards for beaches in Northern Ireland, as well as the Coast Care volunteer programme, Green Flag for Parks and open spaces, and Eco-Home.