Debate contribution: Lough Neagh Rescue Plan

Debate contribution by Dr Steve Aiken OBE on 13 February 2024.

MLA: Dr Steve Aiken OBE
Party at the time: Ulster Unionist Party
Date: 13 February 2024
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Lough Neagh Rescue Plan
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4206379

Text

Mr Speaker, as you will remember, when you were Minister of Agriculture in 2022, a regrettable series of deaths of dogs and other animals was reported to my office in Ballyclare and to councillors. The common denominator was that the deaths were all connected to the lough. Along with Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, DAERA found inconclusive results, but one thing was clear: the view expressed by the people most connected with the lough that their fears for its health were being ignored and that it was only a matter of time before we would be looking at the ecological disaster that would occur. Constituents avoided the lough shore. Sailors raised concerns about what would happen if their boats were to capsize; wildfowlers and fishermen expressed their fears, publicly and privately; and the public started to keep away from the lough shore. That all the warning signs had been there, for decades in some cases, should give no one in authority any comfort. Strikingly, it took a European Space Agency (ESA) image of what should have been the blue centre of Northern Ireland starting to look like a green-streaked Petri dish to bring home to many who care about the lough what we have known for a long time. That our lough recorded a temperature of 17·4°C this summer, at the height of the algal bloom, shows that the lough is acting as a warning signal of the challenges that the climate emergency is bringing upon us. With the global average temperature now recorded as being 1·5°C over baseline, we can, regrettably, expect a repeat of last year's disastrous events, especially as Lough Neagh is particularly affected by the facts of its ecology and topography, which, along with the fact that only one river flows out of it, cannot be changed. There are clearly central problems in the lough: the number of pollutants, the number of invasive species and the rising temperature. In the medium term, we can deal only with the first two. The third will require a major effort to get to net-zero carbon, and we all need to concentrate on getting that done fast. Right now, our lough needs our help. We will hear a lot about an inter-agency task force, co-design and the alphabet soup of other initiatives that are out there. We need someone who can stand up and say clearly that they are responsible for protecting our lough; someone who is willing to take the decisions, hold authority and take all other agencies and stakeholders to task; and, above all, somebody who will be held to account. Our party will support the motion, but what we want to hear from the AERA Minister is that he will be that person who will be accountable for our lough and for what needs to be done.

470 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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