Unauthorised and illegal extraction of sand from the bed of Lough Neagh has been taking place for several years, according to Earl of Shaftesbury Nicholas Ashley-Cooper.
The earl, who owns the bed of the lough and parts of the shoreline, said the Shaftesbury estate has made repeated attempts to stop the claimed illegal extraction.
In a post on the online platform, Substack, Mr Ashley-Cooper described himself as “an easy target and a useful excuse for failings in proper governance”.
He added that his preference would be to transfer ownership of Lough Neagh “into a charity or community trust model, with rights of nature included”.
His comments were made ahead of an Executive meeting to discuss recommendations contained in the Lough Neagh Report commissioned by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
The report, discussed but not adopted by the Executive at a previous meeting, includes recommendations on how to tackle what many describe as a pollution crisis that led to vast areas covered in toxic blue-green algal blooms.
Campaigners gathered on Sunday to call again for urgent action amid fears the blooms fed by agricultural run off and sewage will return this summer.
The ‘Loughshore Stands Up’ rally organised by the Save Lough Neagh at the Oxford Island Discovery Centre close to Lurgan was addressed by swimmers, anglers and conservationists.
Campaign spokesperson Pádraig Cairns said: “We are calling on the Stormont Executive to urgently fulfil its promise to tackle pollution at Lough Neagh.
“Every day that the DAERA minister delays compounds the environmental catastrophe that is unfolding. There is no time for excuses.”
Those attending the rally heard calls for the lough to be brought into public ownership, the end of sand dredging and the “financial incentives for industrial farming, like the disastrous Going for Growth scheme”.
Campaigners also want an independent Environmental Protection Agency to be established. The Northern Ireland Environmental Agency is part of DAERA.
In his article, the earl said there is “currently no entity that is offering to take it or who can guarantee to improve the environmental health of the lough.”
He added that five companies have licences to extract sand for which they pay a royalty to the estate. But he said “unauthorised and therefore completely unregulated and illegal sand extraction” had been taking place for a number of years.
Mr Ashley-Cooper said the Estate’s Lough Neagh Ltd company “has no control” over the water in the Lough and the nutrients being blamed for feeding the booms.
