Eight County Galway beaches have been awarded a Green Coast Award for their commitment to improving the environment of the county's coastline.

Minister John Gormley, TD and Charles Stanley-Smith, Chairman, An Taisce present a Green Coast Beach award to Sinead Johnstone, Galway City Council at the Blue Flag and Green Coast Beach awards ceremony on Templetown Beach, Carlingford, Co. Louth.

Galway beaches in Salthill, Silverstrand, Ballyloughane and Grattan Road have EU Guideline water quality (Blue Flag Standard) and have prepared a beach management plan, which is to be implemented and reviewed in the future. It is hoped that local communities in these areas will assist in the review and implementation of these plans. They can do this by contacting Galway City Council's Environment Section or the An Taisce Environmental Education Unit.

Clean Coasts is a two part coastal environmental programme, the first part of which is the 'Green Coast Award' and the second is 'Coast Care'. 'Coast Care Groups' groups organise coastal clean ups, eliminate 'eyesores', act as guardians of the coast, improve facilities, report incidents and tackle environmental problems both small and large.

Director of An Taisce's Education Unit, Patricia Oliver said: "The Irish coast is a fascinating, dynamic environment, which is well worth protecting. We would encourage people to get involved in environmental protection and management of their coastline. This approach has proved successful in many other parts of the world and enables people to improve the aesthetic and amenity quality of their local environment for local people and tourists alike."

Speaking about CCBI sponsorship of Clean Coasts, Mr Alfie Lydon, Managing Director, CCBI said: "We are proud to be sponsor of Clean Coasts and work with our partners in Northern Ireland to make our island's beaches more environmentally friendly for everyone's enjoyment. We are delighted to extend our relationship with An Taisce by adding Clean Coasts to the other extremely worthwhile environmental initiatives, including National Spring Clean and Green Schools."

Community groups or individuals that would like to get involved in Coast Care should register with Aidan Gray from An Taisce on 01-4002221 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Further information on phase one of the programme can be found on www.cleancoastproject.org.

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