Debate contribution: Lough Neagh Rescue Plan

Debate contribution by Ms Sian Mulholland on 13 February 2024.

MLA: Ms Sian Mulholland
Party at the time: Alliance Party
Date: 13 February 2024
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Private Members' Business
Heading: Lough Neagh Rescue Plan
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 4206407

Text

I take the opportunity to congratulate you on your new role, Mr Speaker. Although I rise as a representative of North Antrim, I think that my accent belies the fact that north Antrim was not my first home. Until last year, when I moved my family to a place where we have a view of Rathlin Island, we had a view of Ram's Island in Lough Neagh, which was the home place of my great-grandmother, Jane Cardwell, who was the last person to live on that island. I speak on and have an interest in Lough Neagh as the proud daughter, niece and granddaughter of eel fishermen. The lough was a hugely important part of my childhood. It was heartbreaking to see the perfect storm of factors that converged last summer. That is why, alongside colleagues such as John Blair, I worked on Alliance's five-point plan for the management of the Lough Neagh emergency. I know only too well the economic importance of Lough Neagh. Whether it is the wholesale and international supply of fish, the leisure facilities or even the tourism output, the lough is a vital player in our economic output. We saw the impact last summer when businesses, organisations and individuals had to abandon activities on the lough due to the proliferation of algal blooms, with a number of businesses in constituencies that border mine having to permanently close their doors as a result. Having met stakeholders, from fishermen and environmentalists to farmers, I know that so many expect action from the Assembly and rightly so. However, the issue did not occur overnight or as a result of one element in the ecosystem surrounding Lough Neagh. Therefore, a solution will not be reached overnight or with the burden placed on one Department or agency. We must have a properly resourced cross-departmental approach that factors in stakeholders and communities from across the board, hence my party's slight amendment to the motion. I want to see a review of the governance of our environmental performance. Comprehensive independent oversight is long overdue. I repeat my party colleague's call for an independent environmental protection agency. Given that NIEA is part of the Department, its powers are, in some ways, limited. I want to see and push for the establishment of an agency with the authority and autonomy to oversee and enforce our environmental laws. That would allow for the penalties and fines for polluting our environment to be addressed and used as an effective deterrent. I want to see the reversal of the cap on repeat offenders as part of a broader review of the fines and penalties for polluters. Given that a myriad of public bodies hold some level of responsibility for the lough and its shores, it is imperative, now more than ever, to compel those stakeholders to work together to develop an integrated management plan. To date, there has been little evidence of a joined-up approach. I can only observe that as having a negative impact on the way forward to a solution for the health of the lough as a vital asset. Overall, I want to see a way forward together, with the lough, its businesses, communities and ecology at the heart, the ultimate goal being a return to the healthy lough that generations of my family knew and fished.

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

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