Almost 80 children protested on Spiddal beach yesterday to highlight the effect on the Connemara village of raw sewage running into Galway Bay.
The protests follows Trá na mBan's loss of its Blue Flag status last month.
The local parish council, Muintearas, has already called for action from Galway County Council over the lack of treatment for waste water at a time when the village is expanding.
The Blue Flag loss followed a European Commission report showing Spiddal's main beach was one of four in Ireland which failed to meet basic water quality standards.
The situation has been reported by the parish council to the Office for Environmental Enforcement, which wants information from the local authority about the cause of a serious deterioration in bathing water quality.
Mr Seán Ó Coistealbha of Muintearas has been campaigning for more than three years over the local authority's handling of sewage treatment, and chose the sewage storage tank and pipe running into the bay as the venue for yesterday's short demonstration.
An open invitation had been extended to politicians, and three Galway county councillors turned up - Fianna Fáil's Connie Ní Fhatharta, Fine Gael's new councillor, Seán Kyne and independent councillor Seosamh Ó Cuaig.
With them were parents and children from the village and from Cois Fharraige who are involved in the Muintearas summer camp, including Ms Liz Feeney and her four children, Pádraig (9), Síofra (7), Iarlaith (5) and Caomhán (2) from Cré Dhubh.
Although the Feeneys use their local beach, they share the concerns of their community for the future of Trá na mBan.
"At a time when local authorities are demanding tighter planning requirements, it is scandalous that Galway County Council should think this holding tank is sufficient," Mr Ó Coistealbha said.
He is a strong supporter of the county council's stance on the new Irish language competency clause for housing development - a condition imposed on part of a new apartment development in Spiddal last week.
"However, the practical issue of sewage treatment is just not being addressed in this area, and it is not good enough to say there is no money to do it properly," he said.
"This beach cost us nothing, it is the main reason that this community is where it is, it is our most important resource and we are going to lose it if nothing is done," Mr Ó Coistealbha said.
Fianna Fáil councillor Connie Ní Fhatharta acknowledged there was a serious problem, but said the local authority had initiated discussions with Údarás na Gaeltachta on a a joint solution.
Fine Gael councillor Seán Kyne said Spiddal was not on the 2004-06 plan for new sewage schemes. "However, even the schemes that are approved by central government are often out of date or inadequate by the time they come on stream," Mr Kyne said. Galway County Council was unavailable for comment.
