Debate contribution: Lough Neagh

Debate contribution by Mrs Linda Dillon on 9 September 2025.

MLA

Mrs Linda Dillon

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

9 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Lough Neagh

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5086697

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank the Members for bringing the motion to the House. I will start by addressing one of the final points made by the Member who spoke previously, the Alliance Member for Upper Bann. We need to work with farmers. That is exactly what we need to do. We should work not with farmers alone but with everybody, but farmers have be included as part of this. They are an essential part of it, so I do not think that we can ignore them, move on and do things without bringing them with us. It is very important that we work together to address that. Protecting our environment and safeguarding Lough Neagh is a critical priority for Sinn Féin, as I hope it is for all of us, including our farming community. I declare an interest, as I did earlier, as somebody who comes from an agricultural background. It is not a highly productive agricultural background, so I certainly do not think that we add in any way to any pollution.

I also have a husband who is an angler. Like every other angler and fisherman, he loves the rivers and wants to protect and look after them. I understand the importance of the issue.

Like many of you, I find the return of the blue-green algae this summer deeply disturbing. With its devastating environmental, social and economic consequences, it threatens biodiversity, wildlife, the safety of our water and the livelihoods of those who depend on the lough, as previous contributors mentioned. The matter is personal to me, because I live five minutes from the lough shore. I live five minutes from the Washing Bay, and I have worked closely with communities along the lough shore — in my local community around Derrylaughan and Brockagh — to support the development of excellent facilities for local residents and those who come to visit. They are right on the shore of an amazing natural resource that must be protected. We all need to work together to make sure that that is exactly what happens. I appreciate the information that the Minister provided to us this morning on plans for a potential Shared Island programme to improve the water quality of Lough Neagh. That is positive. As we all know, rivers do not recognise borders. We must ensure that we have an all-Ireland approach to protecting all our waterways. As my colleague Declan Kearney outlined, there must be maximum cooperation between the Minister and the Government in the South to seek and implement actions to protect the lough. Lough Neagh is central to life on this island. It sustains local communities and rural economies. It supports fishermen, farmers, tourism operators and those who live around its shores. The pollution crisis on the lough has multiple causes that have all been outlined, and I do not deny any of them. The crisis did not occur overnight, and I understand that it will take time to fix the problems, but we have an Executive action plan. We must all work together to implement it in order to deliver our vision of a healthy, sustainable lough that will be there for the generations that come after us: our children and grandchildren. There is an onus on all of us to act for the health of our environment and the future of everyone who relies on that vital resource. It should not be a blame game, and it should not involve ignoring science or data in order to chase votes. The reality is that it will take all of us — government, local communities, farmers, fishermen and environmental groups — working together to solve the issue. Everyone must have a say and be genuinely and actively listened to. We must take on board people's ideas and what they say. They know what they are talking about. We need to listen to them. Progress has been made through additional funding secured by the Finance Minister, John O'Dowd, earlier this year to fund initiatives such as the small business research initiative, which harnesses innovative science-based and evidence-based solutions. We need to have a focus on those. I welcome the AERA Minister's commitment to a stakeholder task and finish group to bring the farmers, agri-food sector, environmental groups and government officials together to develop evidence-based and workable measures. It must include those who look after and protect rivers that run into the lough and, in particular — I again declare my interest — the angling groups that look after those rivers. The Member for West Tyrone who spoke earlier has an interest in that as well. It is crucial that farmers are supported to make changes in a fair and realistic way. Just transition principles must be applied to ensure that the costs do not fall disproportionately on those who are potentially the least able to bear them. We need to bring everyone with us. Forcing through measures that are unworkable or unaffordable does no good for anyone and, ultimately, is counterproductive. It is essential to remember that the lough is not just a body of water; it is the heart of many communities. It is the heart of my community.

It provides livelihoods, sustains biodiversity and offers huge potential for economic opportunities.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 13:05 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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