Debate contribution: Lough Neagh Rescue Plan

Debate contribution by Mr Eóin Tennyson on 13 February 2024.

MLA

Mr Eóin Tennyson

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 4206488

Read the official Assembly record

Text

As I am the grandson of fishermen on both sides of my family and someone who still lives just a few hundred metres from the lough shore, this issue lies particularly close to my heart, as other Members have said it does to theirs. Lough Neagh is the jewel in the crown of our natural environment. It is steeped in rich heritage and it is essential for biodiversity, fishing, tourism, recreation and leisure. It provides clean water for drinking and for industry and agriculture. That such a vital asset has been permitted to start to die in plain sight is a sorry indictment of our politics. The algal blooms that engulfed Lough Neagh last summer have brought this unfolding environmental disaster into sharp public focus, but its roots lie far deeper than that. While the motion is welcome, and I thank Mr McGuigan for proposing it, it does not absolve parties in the Chamber of their responsibilities for walking us to this position. Be it the industrialisation that was pursued by the now First Minister or the capping of fines for repeat polluters by the DUP, the challenges apparent in Lough Neagh now are a result of decades of inertia and neglect.

Yes.

It is a matter of public record that industrialisation has contributed to the challenges that we now face. The Member will appreciate that I was not a Member of the Assembly at the time and also that policing and justice powers were just being devolved at that stage. I thank him for his intervention. Just last month, despite all parties having expressed concern for the ecological crisis unfolding in Lough Neagh, a number of councillors in my constituency shamefully overturned an officer's recommendation and permitted the extension of a landfill site just a few hundred metres from the lough shore. On that basis, it is clear that that inertia still pervades some elements of our politics. Is it any wonder that Northern Ireland is the twelfth worst region in the world for biodiversity loss and that none of our waterways meet basic standards? Having said all of that, I hope that today's motion and the apparent change in attitude on display in the Chamber can now be reflected in a significant change in approach right across the Executive, the Assembly and beyond. As set out in the Alliance Party's five-point plan to rescue Lough Neagh, it is vital that we introduce an integrated management plan. At present, myriad government bodies, councils and charities all have some degree of responsibility for the management of the lough. Too often, however, their work is fragmented and disjointed. We must ensure a new approach to governance and cooperation between those bodies, with a shared focus on protection of the lough and its shores. Crucially, that work must also be overseen by the long-overdue establishment of an independent environmental protection agency, with the authority and the autonomy to hold the Government to account. I welcome the Minister's strong commitment in that regard this afternoon. I remind all Members in the Chamber that an independent EPA was included in the New Decade, New Approach agreement. Given the scale of the crisis, we must all recommit ourselves to the establishment of that agency, alongside an environment strategy for Northern Ireland. We must work with our agriculture sector, invest in innovation and science to reduce agricultural run-off and its impacts and to support upgrades to septic tanks, and promote measures to support nature-friendly farming. Those practices can produce high-quality food while tackling the wildlife and climate crisis. So too must we confront our creaking waste water infrastructure, to which Mr McReynolds referred. Underinvestment means that there are now 100 areas of waste water treatment that are at or near full capacity, contributing to environmentally damaging overflows. There must now be a serious review of NI Water to ensure that it is sustainable and can safeguard our environment and provide value for money for our citizens. As others have outlined, the challenges are huge. They are not, however, insurmountable. While it may take up to 50 years to undo the damage that has festered in Lough Neagh, it will take even longer if we do not start now. I sincerely hope that we can work together to take the necessary long-term decisions to protect the lough, its shores and the communities that love and rely upon it.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 09:36 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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