Doldrum Bay is a scenic beach on the south side of the Howth peninsula in Dublin, Ireland. The bay is part of the Dublin Bay UNESCO Biosphere and a popular spot for locals and visitors. The view over Doldrum Bay towards the Baily Lighthouse is one of the most popular and most photographed views in Ireland. The beach itself is a special habitat with a wide variety of marine flora and fauna including harbour porpoise, seals, heron, oyster catchers, mallards and kestrel. The rock pools are spectacular, the geology of the cliffs unique and the views amazing. The bay is part of the Howth Special Amenity Area.

Directly into this paradise, directly onto the beach itself, flows a raw sewage outfall. This wastewater is the untreated effluent from 33 houses and the pollution covers a wide area of the beach. The stench and detritus from this outfall poses a direct health hazard to anyone visiting the beach as well as damaging the environment on a daily basis. Items such as colostomy bags, condoms and tampons can be clearly seen and the smell is frequently overpowering. Birds can be seen drinking from the outfall. The nutrifying effect of the sewage can be seen in the over-fertilized growth of green algae over much of the shoreline.

This outfall is operated by Irish Water in direct contravention of their Ringsend Wastewater License. This license was granted in 2011 by the Environmental Protection Agency on the understanding that the outfall at Doldrum Bay would be stopped immediately. Despite agreeing to these terms, Irish Water immediately attempted to renege on this commitment, claiming that the outfall posed no threat to health and had 'no significant affect on receiving waters'. Despite pressure from local environmental groups and Fingal County Council, Irish Water have remained defiantly in breach of their obligations under national and European environmental law. They have lied, prevaricated and procrastinated and still no solution is in place to find either a short or long term solution. This has been going on for over 5 years now and still the sewage flows onto the beach at a rate of 5 Olympic swimming pools per year. The local population are at a loss as to how their much loved beach will ever be clean.

As a matter of extreme urgency, Irish Water need to put in place a short term solution to stop the flow of sewage onto the beach. This might involve piping the flow away into tanks. In the long term, Irish Water must put in the proper infrastructure for treating this wastewater, either through onsite treatment away from the beach or by installing a pumping system to take the wastewater to the main drains and away from the area where it can be treated properly. The EPA should act vigorously in keeping Irish Water to their commitments and enforce the law preventing this continued defiant and illegal action. We also call on Simon Coveney, the Minister for the Environment to take direct action to force the agencies involved to act, meeting both short and long term goals and returning this beautiful place to a pristine state.