Duncannon Beach in Ireland regains Blue Flag in 2026
This year, for the first time in 19 years, the Blue Flag has flown again over Duncannon Beach, Ireland. Despite wind and rain, the community gathered on the beach and celebrated as Duncannon local Walter Foley raised the Blue Flag.
It was a special occasion well worth getting the rain coats out for. Duncannon beach had first received the Blue Flag in 1988, only one year after the Blue Flag programme was established in 1987. Even then, caring for the beach already had tradition in Duncannon. Walter’s father John Foley used to organise weekly beach cleanups, engaging school children and the local community in the effort to care for their beach, and motivating helpers with free ice cream. Walter remembers how proud his father was when Duncannon first received the Blue Flag.
📸 1988 left to right: Kathleen Colfer (kneeling), Catherine Power, Walter Foley, John Foley, and Peggy Glennon (kneeling).
📸 2026 left to right: Kathleen Colfer, Catherine Power's son Connell in her place, Walter, Walter's brother Liam in place of their father, and Peggy Glennon.
Now, almost 40 years later, members of the original committee and their children have gathered around the Blue Flag again. After struggling with impairments to water quality for the past two decades, the community’s efforts towards improving their beach, including a new sewage system installed in the area and an EU-funded scheme to support local farmers in preventing land run-off entering streams and rivers, have paid off and Duncannon Beach is meeting the high standards of the Blue Flag programme once again in 2026.
As Walter puts it: “It means so much to me to have regained our Blue Flag many years later and justified the many years of commitment from community groups, tidy towns, agricultural initiatives and local upgrades. It was a proud moment to be photographed with most of the original committee holding the 2026 Blue Flag.”
Congratulations to everyone who has contributed to bringing the Blue Flag back to Duncannon beach!