Debate contribution: Lough Neagh Rescue Plan

Debate contribution by Mr Gerry Carroll on 13 February 2024.

MLA

Mr Gerry Carroll

Party at the time

People Before Profit Alliance

Date

13 February 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Lough Neagh Rescue Plan

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4206454

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I have been proud to campaign alongside Lough Neagh communities and local environmental activists in the Save Lough Neagh campaign to demand action to resolve the unfolding crisis. One thing that is repeated by those activists is that the lough is not dying; it is being murdered. It gives me absolutely no pleasure to say that the Executive parties are responsible, in large part at least, for that killing. It has been the years of government mistreatment and prioritisation of private profits that has driven Lough Neagh to the brink of collapse, threatening wildlife and important local ecosystems and poisoning the very water that we drink. The toxic algal blooms are just a visual representation of the danger that Stormont Ministers have repeatedly ignored. Environmental campaigners warned about the state of the lough. Ministers were repeatedly questioned about the destruction of Lough Neagh, about legal and illegal sand dredging and about the big industrial polluters who use our waterways as their own private sewer. Rather than the problem being tackled, the destruction has been further fuelled by disastrous Stormont initiatives such as Going for Growth. That scheme, which was passed around a decade ago, incentivised the creation of industrial, factory-style farms that have been spilling their poison into our waterways ever since. In 2018, the waste produced by the pig industry alone was equivalent to the waste of 12 million humans. That is unbelievable stuff. Parties here were warned about the lack of infrastructure for dealing with the increase in waste, but they signed off on the plan anyway. Mr Speaker, as a former Minister, you were, obviously, in charge at that time, but the scheme was also signed off by Sinn Féin, the DUP, Alliance, the SDLP and the UUP. It must be said, Mr Speaker, that, as Minister, you also lessened the fines for those polluting Lough Neagh and its tributaries. In the face of repeated objections, SDLP Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon also allowed commercial sand dredging at Lough Neagh that still stirs up the nutrients that choke Lough Neagh with the occurrence of toxic algal blooms. Stormont also refused to issue penalties for illegal sand dredging. I should also mention that the current First Minister, Michelle O'Neill, resisted calls to take the lake bed into public ownership. People will not forget the positions taken by former Ministers. The bottom line is that, at every turn, Stormont's establishment parties ignored environmental concerns and effectively opted to destroy Lough Neagh when there was a quick, private profit to be made. It is good to see a motion that recognises the importance of Lough Neagh. I hope that it signals a change of tack from Stormont parties. I hope that the Minister who is now in charge — I wish him well — takes a different approach, but, if he does not, we will be ready to challenge him. On behalf of the Save Lough Neagh campaign, I want to lay out some demands that could help to save this vital natural resource. We need an independent environmental protection agency with the power to hold polluters to account. We need urgent investment in research and a recovery plan. We need to end commercial dredging and reduce sewage dumping and run-off. We need rights of nature status for Lough Neagh. Finally, we need to bring Lough Neagh back into public ownership and allow it to be managed by the communities and workers who depend on it. The Earl of Shaftesbury's ancestors stole the lough. He has profited from its destruction. He should not get a penny from it. The state should move to take it away from him. Lough Neagh is a vital natural resource that should belong to us all. The financial interests of a wealthy few should not come above our natural environment, our drinking water and the livelihoods of the many who rely on the lough. Musician-turned-environmental activist, Feargal Sharkey, said of zebra mussels:

"What a load of crap. The issue is simple: too much bad stuff going into the lough".

I am not an environmental expert, but I will take my direction from Mr Feargal Sharkey.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:35 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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