A Wexford county councillor says people should not be asked to take staycations if beaches are closed.
It comes after Gardaí were drafted in to redirect people heading for Duncannon Beach on Sunday.
Wexford County Council says it had one of its busiest days of the year there, with lifeguards counting 300 people on the strand and 60 more in the water.
But Labour councillor George Lawlor told Newstalk Breakfast: "I was surprised in some respect, but I was equally surprised that the figure was only 300 people.
"We can't have it every way - we can't ask people to do staycations and then close access to a beach because there's 300 people on it".
"I think the difficulty for many people here is not so much the beach, it's the access to it and it's the traffic caused by poor access to it.
"In many respects across Co Wexford, we've 250 kilometres of coastline, but much of that coastline is accessed through small villages and small areas.
"And I think that's the difficulty.
"So I think from a Wexford County Council point of view, who have done magnificent work over this pandemic, I think we have to step up to the plate and think outside the box to allow people to access these areas.
"Three hundred people on a beach the size of Duncannon is not a problem.
"It isn't Torremolinos with people in their thousands, it's manageable and it's something that we have to do".
