Striking images of masses of toxic bluegreen algae have returned to Lough Neagh amid continued inaction over a Stormont plan to combat environmental problems with the lough.
As Lough Neagh stakeholders prepare to meet with the Earl of Shaftesbury, the aristocrat who owns the bed and banks of the lough on Wednesday, some of the worst algal blooms were spotted near Toome at the weekend.
An action plan proposed by Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) Minister Andrew Muir to battle the long-running problems affecting Lough Neagh is still to be signed off by the Stormont executive.
Lough Neagh is the largest freshwater lake in the UK and Ireland and supplies 40% of the North’s drinking water.
Speaking at the site of the toxic bloom on Tuesday councillor for Moyola, Denise Johnston, said the time for talking has finished.
“At the weekend there was a lot of algae here and this is similar to what is going on in other parts of the Lough. We knew this was going to happen,” she said.
“Personally I want the lough ownership taken into our hands, we have had years of mismanagement of the lough.
“With that comes responsibility and I want our Executive to step up to the plate. At the minute we have an action plan in front of the executive and 17 of them have not yet been agreed to.
“They really must take the responsibility and get those actions in place. We can’t wait, we have a crisis in the Lough, we have a crisis in health, a crisis in education, a crisis in everything.”
Meanwhile, Lough Neagh stakeholders are to meet with the Earl of Shaftesbury in Belfast on Wednesday, amid recent comments from the earl that he would be willing to hand back part of the lough into public ownership for free.
Lough Neagh was gifted to the Chichester family during the Plantation of Ulster before ownership was transferred to the Shaftesburys in the 19th century.
People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll said the earl should ‘do the right thing’ and hand the lough back to the public.
“Public ownership, with workers and communities in the driving seat, is a critical step towards protecting the Lough from environmentally destructive practices such as commercial sand dredging,” he said.
“Both the Stormont executive and the Earl of Shaftesbury have dithered and delayed for long enough.... Time for public ownership.”
