Salthill was one of 81 bathing areas which received blue flag awards yesterday under the scheme administered by An Taisce.
The addition of three marinas brings the total to 84 blue flags for this year, representing the highest number since the scheme was initiated in 1988.
Galway's deputy mayor Cllr Colette Connolly and city manager Joe McGrath were on hand to witness the raising of the flag at Salthill's Ladies Beach, a decade after the resort last held the banner.
The blue flag represented a "vindication" for allocation of public funds for the Mutton island sewage treatment plant, said Minister for the Environment Dick Roche, presenting the awards in Salthill. The plant, opened in 2004, received no EU funding due to the controversy over its location.
Mr Roche was keen to stress that 96 per cent of Irish coastal bathing areas complied with EU mandatory values, while 91 per cent complied with stricter aspirational "guide" values.
Expenditure of some €2.7 billion on water and sewage infrastructure since 2000 had translated into a cut of 45,000 tonnes in annual pollutant discharge into rivers, lakes and seas, he said.
Mr Roche warned against complacency, and paid tribute to the main farming organisations for swinging in behind the EU Nitrates Directive. He acknowledged that blackspots like Spiddal, Co Galway, required addressing, and his department had introduced a new fast-tracking scheme for plants costing under €5 million.
The department was also working on guidelines for more natural, non-engineering, solutions to sewage disposal in smaller areas, such as reed bed treatment, he said. Counties with the most blue flags are Kerry and Mayo, at 13 each. Five areas lost their flags this year. Tramore failed to get a blue flag as it was found to be in breach of regulations relating to waste disposal.
Patricia Oliver of An Taisce noted this year's blue flag map was an "all-island" representation for the first time.
At the awards presentation, Mr Roche appealed to the public to show more respect towards water safety equipment, and warned of the specific dangers of swimming in inshore waters. He expressed his sympathy and condolences to the three families affected by five drownings over the bank holiday weekend.
"All five occurred in riverine waters," he said. "Irish Water Safety has pointed out that rivers and inshore waters can be particularly dangerous, due to currents and the fact that inshore water can be colder than anticipated."
Damage to safety equipment was not relevant to the incidents to his knowledge, but was a continuing problem, Mr Roche said.
"There has been a lot of vandalism of buoys, ropes have been cut, and people could be depending on this equipment for their lives. I appeal to people to show more respect."
Last week, eight Northern Ireland beaches received blue flags. Only one of last year's blue flag beaches failed to retain its status, with Portrush's East Strand being replaced by Ballycastle.
