Anne Vella, who lives in Sandycove, Dubin, brought her Maltese terrier, Sophie, along to the Forty Foot on Wednesday for some fresh air.
The retired midwife says “seeing people so happy” was the highlight of times like these and she believes most are “much friendlier” when the weather is warmer.
“The only thing that makes me unhappy about the sunny days is the mess that people leave behind on the beach,” she says.
Vella says she arrived at the seaside about 7pm on Tuesday and thought “it was disgusting” to see how much litter had been left behind. One man she saw had collected three bags of bottles for recycling.
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Despite temperatures rising into the mid to high 20s in recent days, Vella says the seawater, at 15 degrees, was still a little too chilly for her. She prefers going for a swim when it hits 21 or 22 degrees.
A staff member at the Sandycove Sauna By The Sea says business was “pretty dead” on Wednesday, with having a chance to cool off in the sea more of an attraction for those visiting. However, she says demand for iced coffees and cold water kept things ticking over.
Colin Moore (56), a self-employed graphic designer from Blanchardstown, says the water was “a little bit cooler” than he expected, but he had no problem with the water quality despite recent warnings of potential deterioration.
Moore says being self-employed “kind of works well” as it allows him to take his time getting home. He recently worked with people based in Switzerland, where temperatures have soared beyond 30 degrees of late, and he believes the weather in Ireland is “lovely” in comparison.
Clodagh Reville (20) and Anastasia Zakharova (18), from Newbridge, Co Kildare, left home at 10am to get to the Forty Foot for the afternoon.
Reville, a biosciences student at Technological University Dublin, has two part-time jobs – one in a vape shop and the other in a homeware store – and feels “lucky” to have such a nice day off.
She says “getting a good tan” was central to what she would consider a good day in the sun, and she was not overly concerned about water-quality warnings.
She would prefer going for swim abroad, but adds that she was “stuck here for now”.
Zakharova, who just finished her first year studying global business with German at Dublin City University, was not too worried about ultraviolet radiation, saying she applied her sun cream in the morning.
She is preparing to go interrailing in the coming weeks, before working in a camp in Germany for a fortnight, but is not worried too much about there being even more intense heat on the continent.
Met Éireann indicated a high temperature of 27.9 degrees was recorded at Moore Park in Co Cork on Wednesday, less than the peak of 28.3 degrees recorded at the Phoenix Park in Dublin on Tuesday.
Thursday is to be “a hot and humid day across the country”, according to the forecaster, with “good sunshine” due for most, albeit with a chance of thunderstorms developing later in the day in the west and northwest.
“Highest temperatures of 25 to 31 degrees, possibly reaching higher in some places, with the hottest temperatures across the midlands and west,” said Met Éireann.
Conditions are to remain “warm and humid” on Friday, with highs of 22 to 26 degrees, before a return to cooler and more regular Irish summer conditions at the weekend.
Jack Brady
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