Balbriggan Beach in Co Dublin has been closed to swimmers after raw sewage was discharged into the Irish Sea for up to 26 hours on Monday and yesterday.
A member of the public raised the alarm yesterday afternoon when the waste water was washed back in with the tide.
Fingal County Council has closed the beach to swimmers and is awaiting results of water-quality samples from Balbriggan and nearby Barnageera and Skerries, which are due tomorrow.
In a statement, Fingal County Council said the sewage discharges occurred after power interruptions, due to bad weather, in the Skerries/Balbriggan area.
The power interruptions caused pumps at the council's wastewater pumping stations at Rush Road in Skerries and at Isaacs Bower in Balbriggan to fail.
