As motivational messages go, the pictures on the wall at Irish Water’s Ringsend wastewater treatment plant are more taunting than encouraging.
Water quality in Dublin Bay will be good enough for Blue Flag status, declares one over a vista of sparkling sea meeting azure sky.
Dollymount, Sandymount and Merrion strands will meet all EU bathing standards, vows another. Dublin’s finest amenity, declares a third with a bird's-eye view of the plant itself.
Within two years of the plant’s completion in 2005, it was overloaded. The beaches have often been subject to swimming bans, Merrion has officially been de-designated a bathing area and, around the bay, blue flags remain elusive.