{"id":292,"date":"2008-12-09T11:13:35","date_gmt":"2008-12-09T11:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dermotlacey.ie\/blog\/?p=292"},"modified":"2008-12-09T11:13:35","modified_gmt":"2008-12-09T11:13:35","slug":"blue-flag-status-for-merrion-sandymount-strands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/dermotlacey.ie\/blog\/2008\/12\/blue-flag-status-for-merrion-sandymount-strands\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Flag Status for Merrion & Sandymount Strands"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Motion to Dublin City Council)<\/strong><\/p>\n

DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL
\nSOUTH EAST AREA COMMITTEE
\n8th December 2008
\n<\/em>
\nItem No. 2<\/p>\n

Motion from Councillor Dermot Lacey<\/p>\n

This Committee requests a report on what steps it would be necessary to take for Sandymount and Merrion Strands to achieve full Blue Flag Status and to report on what steps are being taken and will be taken to advance that cause.
\nReport:<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Blue Flag Campaign started in France in 1985 and has been operating in Europe since 1987 and in areas outside of Europe since 2001.\u00a0 Today countries from all around the globe are participants in the Blue Flag
\nCampaign, which strives to promote sustainable development in coastal areas through:
\n* high water quality standards
\n* safety standards
\n* environmental management standards and
\n* environmental education<\/p>\n

There are 29 criteria set out to achieve Blue Flag status.\u00a0 Generally these criteria are in two parts, the first are the imperative or obligatory criteria which all beaches and marina must comply with in order to be awarded a Blue Flag.\u00a0 These obligatory criteria relate to water quality, litter management, safety, service and facilities and environmental education and information.\u00a0 Guideline criteria which are non-mandatory refer generally to the establishment of beach management committees, the provision of recycling facilities on the beach and the promotion of sustainable means of transportation to the beach area.\u00a0 The following points should also be noted:<\/p>\n

* Blue Flag is valid only during the official bathing season and for one season at a time.
\n* The Blue Flag bathing season is determined to be the 1st June to the 31st August.
\n* Only bathing areas designated as such by the Irish Government are eligible to apply for Blue Flag status.<\/p>\n

Sandymount Strand achieved a Green Coast Award in 2007.\u00a0 The Green Coast Award acknowledges beaches which meet EC bathing water quality standards, but which are also prized for their natural, unspoiled
\nenvironment. A “natural, unspoilt environment” means that the special character of such a beach may not be compatible with the level of infrastructure and intensive management generally associated with more urban, traditional seaside resort beaches where the blue flag award would be more appropriate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Motion to Dublin City Council) DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL SOUTH EAST AREA COMMITTEE 8th December 2008 Item No. 2 Motion from Councillor Dermot Lacey This Committee requests a report on what steps it would be necessary to take for Sandymount and Merrion Strands to achieve full Blue Flag Status and to report on what steps are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[313,31,26,315,318,319,168,314,316,94,194,317],"class_list":["post-292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogs","tag-blue-flag","tag-dublin-bay","tag-dublin-city-council","tag-green-coast","tag-litter","tag-management","tag-merrion","tag-merrion-strand","tag-motion","tag-sandymount","tag-sandymount-strand","tag-water-quality"],"yoast_head":"\nBlue Flag Status for Merrion & Sandymount Strands - Councillor Dermot Lacey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/dermotlacey.ie\/blog\/2008\/12\/blue-flag-status-for-merrion-sandymount-strands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blue Flag Status for Merrion & Sandymount Strands - Councillor Dermot Lacey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Motion to Dublin City Council) DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL SOUTH EAST AREA COMMITTEE 8th December 2008 Item No. 2 Motion from Councillor Dermot Lacey This Committee requests a report on what steps it would be necessary to take for Sandymount and Merrion Strands to achieve full Blue Flag Status and to report on what steps are […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/dermotlacey.ie\/blog\/2008\/12\/blue-flag-status-for-merrion-sandymount-strands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Councillor Dermot Lacey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100064479804399\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100064479804399\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-12-09T11:13:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dermot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@LaceyDermot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@LaceyDermot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dermot\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/dermotlacey.ie\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/12\\\/blue-flag-status-for-merrion-sandymount-strands\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/dermotlacey.ie\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/12\\\/blue-flag-status-for-merrion-sandymount-strands\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Dermot\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/dermotlacey.ie\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/88143b54da5f5fd72bac76fe6d8272ce\"},\"headline\":\"Blue Flag Status for Merrion & Sandymount Strands\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-12-09T11:13:35+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/dermotlacey.ie\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/12\\\/blue-flag-status-for-merrion-sandymount-strands\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":354,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/dermotlacey.ie\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/88143b54da5f5fd72bac76fe6d8272ce\"},\"keywords\":[\"blue flag\",\"dublin bay\",\"dublin city council\",\"green coast\",\"litter\",\"management\",\"merrion\",\"merrion strand\",\"motion\",\"sandymount\",\"sandymount strand\",\"water quality\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Blog Posts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/dermotlacey.ie\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/12\\\/blue-flag-status-for-merrion-sandymount-strands\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/dermotlacey.ie\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/12\\\/blue-flag-status-for-merrion-sandymount-strands\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/dermotlacey.ie\\\/blog\\\/2008\\\/12\\\/blue-flag-status-for-merrion-sandymount-strands\\\/\",\"name\":\"Blue Flag Status for Merrion & Sandymount Strands - 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My priorities Community support, housing delivery, local government reform and supporting the voluntary youth sector. My background Growing up in Donnybrook, where I still live, I was always in involved in community life particularly through my membership of Donnybrook Scout Group. I was co-opted to Dublin City Council in 1993 to fill the vacancy caused by the appointment of Ruairi Quinn as Minister for Enterprise and Employment. Since then I have been re-elected at each local elections in 1999, 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019 in varying parts of Dublin Bay South as the electoral areas changed. On the Council I have served as Chairperson of the Employment Committee, Finance Committee, Arts and Sports Committee, Housing Committee, Protocol Committee and the Council itself as Lord Mayor of Dublin. I have also served as Chairperson of the South East Area Committee. I was elected Leader of the Labour Group in 2011. 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