Debate contribution: Lough Erne: Pollution
Debate contribution by Lord Elliott on .
- MLA
- Lord Elliott
- Party at the time
- Ulster Unionist Party
- Date
- 17 September 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Adjournment
- Heading
- Lough Erne: Pollution
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4537480
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I thank Mrs Erskine for proposing this topic for the Adjournment debate. We are concerned about pollution at any level. I do not think that Lough Erne has got to the stage that Lough Neagh is at, but there is always a danger of it progressing that way. Of course, in Lough Erne, we have a totally different type of lough, in that it has two sections: the upper lough, which is, unusually, in the southern part; and the lower lough, which is in the northern part — that is Irish logic for you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Lough Erne is in a unique setting, particularly given that the Ulster canal can bring you right out to the sea from the upper lough. The lough is a really good tourist attraction, so I do not want to be completely negative. Lough Erne is a great showcase for Northern Ireland. We do, however, need to curtail the pollution. I recall going to school — a wee while ago — and reading in the local press about the pollution from the raw sewage that was being piped into Lough Erne. That was some years ago, and we have had problems with pollution since then. The lower lough is extremely deep, and so the pollution may not have as much of an impact as it does on the upper lough, which is much shallower — at some times of the year, that part is so shallow that you can walk through it. One of the biggest pollutants has been zebra mussels. They came in and cleared the plankton and some of the other species in the lough, allowing the sunlight to get right to the bottom of the lough. That issue has caused huge difficulties not only in Lough Erne but, as I understand it, in Lough Neagh. That has had a major impact on the lough. The hydroelectric plant at Ballyshannon resulted from a deal that was done between the Republic of Ireland Government and the Northern Ireland Government in the late 1940s or 1950. That deal allowed them to build a hydropower plant to generate electricity. That was a good idea at that time, which also helped to drain a lot of the areas around upper Lough Erne. However, it has had a huge impact on fish stock, particularly on fish such as salmon and eels that need to get up through the power station. I have visited the power station on a number of occasions, and, once you see it, you can understand how difficult it is for those fish — the salmon and the eels — to get through it. Mitigation measures have been put in place, but that is not the same as letting those fish go naturally up and through the system. I do not want to stop the hydroelectric plant in Ballyshannon, but I would ask that some other system be found that allows the fish to get back into Lough Erne naturally. Before I finish, I will highlight the good parts of Lough Erne. We have a natural hinterland there, with a natural lough that brings lots of tourists into the area, so I want to talk it up. There are lots of leisure facilities, an abundance of hotels and catering facilities, as well as water sports. It is a really good place to be and a good place to have in our constituency.
I praise those who do a lot of good work to keep the lough natural and provide tourist facilities not only for people coming into Fermanagh but for local people. The lough is used widely by local people and is a huge benefit to local industries. While I appreciate that there are negatives around pollution, Lough Erne has a lot of positives as well.
632 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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