There were never going to be any quick fixes to the crisis gripping Lough Neagh. Even so, it is more than a little puzzling, not to mention dispiriting, that there hasn’t been more energy and urgency to the executive’s response.
A report commissioned by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has been discussed by ministers but its recommendations have yet to be adopted.
It is unclear if the executive will even meet this side of the election, let alone deign to reach decisions on tackling the Lough Neagh scandal.
This is a far cry from the messages being delivered last summer when the lough was besieged by blooms of toxic blue-green algae. Then, politicians of all stripes were queuing up to tell us that addressing the problem would be at the top of their agenda if only the DUP would end its pathetic boycott.
The reality has worked out somewhat differently. As in far too many other areas under Stormont’s control - including the gathering collapse of the health and social care system, for example - it is proving far from straightforward to unwind years of executive inertia, neglect and buck-passing.
Campaigners fear that this means that the toxic algal blooms are likely to return this summer.
The Save Lough Neagh group says Daera minister, Alliance’s Andrew Muir, needs to take the issue by the scruff of the neck.
“Every day that the minister delays compounds the environmental catastrophe that is unfolding,” insists spokesman Pádraig Cairns.”There is no time for excuses.”
The campaigners, who held a ‘Loughshore Stands Up’ rally at Oxford Island on Sunday, make a compelling argument. While there are things that the executive can do, it is also the case that Mr Muir and his department could already be doing more. For example, what many regard as a kid gloves approach to dealing with polluting farmers and companies should end.
On Lough Neagh, as in far too many other areas under Stormont’s control - including the gathering collapse of the health and social care system - it is proving far from straightforward to unwind years of executive inertia, neglect and buck-passing
The Earl of Shaftesbury, who owns the bed and sections of the shoreline, has often found himself blamed for Lough Neagh’s plight. With some justification, Nicholas Ashley-Cooper regards this scapegoating as unfair. After all, he did not devise the executive strategy which incentivised the sort of industrial farming practices which have poured excess nitrates and phosphates into the lough, feeding the blooms.
He has now complained about illegal sand extraction from the lough bed, in addition to the five companies his estate licences.
The earl seems eager to play a part in solving the crisis, which he believes should involve “a charity or community trust model, with rights of nature included”.
This deserves serious consideration. Any enduring and credible solution to the scandal must involve bringing the community together and putting our precious environment first.
