The 22 award-winning beaches and marinas in Northern Ireland for 2025 have been revealed this week. Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, who manage the accreditations locally, announced the winning sites across five council areas. A total of 16 sites across Northern Ireland earned the prestigious Blue Flag - one of the world’s most recognised awards for beaches and marinas. Winning sites met international standards in criteria such as safety, accessibility, cleanliness, environmental education and, for beaches, water quality. A further six beaches across NI received Seaside Awards, the UK’s mark of quality that ensures visitors are guaranteed to find a clean, safe, attractive, and well-managed coastal stretch. Read more: National Trust to “answer questions” over Mournes Gateway decision Read more: Northern Ireland listed buildings survey paints “worrying picture” At the award ceremony on Tuesday, May 6, DAERA Minister Andrew Muir also announced seven new bathing water sites have been formally identified for Northern Ireland. This is the first time new bathing water sites have been identified since 2018. To be identified, sites must meet certain criteria, including number of bathers or people using the site and the availability of facilities. DAERA say they carry out regular testing of these bathing waters to ensure they're safe and releases this information to the public on a weekly basis during the bathing season, from June 1 to mid-September each year. Following the announcement of the new award-winning sites, Eric Randall, CEO of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said: "We are extremely pleased that 22 beaches and marinas are being recognised with either a Blue Flag or a Seaside Award. Northern Ireland can rightly be proud of the amazing beaches and marinas we have to enjoy. "Our offering is world class, and the public can be assured of an excellent experience when they visit one of these sites. As we recognise these areas, we need to take steps to protect them for future generations. All parts of government and society must proactively adopt approaches that reverse the devastating impact of the climate emergency and ensure that these areas thrive into the future." Award-winning beaches will now have their respective flags in place for this year’s bathing season. In the event that water quality is not safe for members of the public to swim in the water, Blue Flags and Seaside Awards Flags are lowered until the water is safe to swim in. Blue Flag Marinas, which are not designated bathing waters, fly their flags all year round. Full list of award-winning sites The seven new bathing water sites in Northern Ireland New bathing water sites which will be formally identified in the legislation before June 1, 2025: Brompton Bay (Bangor) Cushendall Donaghadee Drain's Bay Portmuck Rea's Wood (Antrim) Warrenpoint For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.