Debate contribution: Lough Neagh

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on 9 September 2025.

MLA

Mr Andrew Muir

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

9 September 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Lough Neagh

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5086790

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important motion and reaffirm my commitment and that of my Department to the protection and restoration of Lough Neagh and its wider catchment. It has been truly heartbreaking this summer to witness yet again the scenes of a lough being suffocated by human-induced blue-green algae blooms. The decline in the eel industry, which has been talked about today, shows the real and tragic impacts of the ecological crisis. We have seen a rise in blue-green algae blooms affecting not only Lough Neagh and its catchment but beaches and bathing waters along the north coast. It concerns me greatly that there were 163 confirmed reports of blue-green algae from 78 unique locations across Northern Ireland as of 4 September, with the blooms being reported in two new locations since 28 August. The thick layer of blue-green algae in and around fishing quays has disrupted the operation of commercial fisheries. The thick build-ups will also impact on recreational angling. The advice is to take extreme care when working and fishing around algae blooms. The Lough Neagh fisheries are an important part of the rural economy around Lough Neagh and must be protected in the long term. The closure of the eel fishery is an ongoing concern. While other fisheries have been able to continue, I am aware of the real impact on the eel fishery. What has happened is historic. Eel fishing is part of our culture and the heritage of the communities around the lough. I am working with representatives of the eel fishermen to see how my Department can support them, and we are doing that. It is important that the Department provides that support. The issues have been reported on our TV screens yet again this summer. The historic termination of eel fishing must focus minds. I urge all Members of the Assembly to focus not on the next election, which many seem to be doing already, but on the next generation. I ask Members to look at the lough, look at what has been reported and realise that the status quo is not an option. The Programme for Government that was published a number of months ago is a contract with the people of Northern Ireland. There is a promise in that to protect Lough Neagh and the environment, and it must be fulfilled. The issue is fundamental to the Executive and these institutions, because politics is about leadership. We must be capable of following through on and taking the difficult decisions that are needed. You cannot govern by sound bites, social media graphics and photo shoots. The time ahead for Lough Neagh is absolutely, fundamentally critical. This is the biggest test of the Executive since restoration. Ultimately the test is about who is up for governing and who is not. I am up for taking those difficult decisions, and, if they come to me from other Ministers such as the Infrastructure Minister, in relation to waste water infrastructure, I will not be found wanting in my support. I am keen to work with people, and, as Minister, I am writing to all the party leaders, asking for a meeting with all the parties in this place to discuss any issues that they have and how we can work together with regard to this. Fundamentally, we have to work together and show the people of Northern Ireland that hope and delivery can come from this place. I am confident that they can, and I want to engage with people and find a way forward on this. On the positives — I have said that I am hopeful that we can turn this around — the Lough Neagh report and action plan is under way. Some 14 of the actions have been completed, and 22 are under way. Some people ask me why I say that it will take decades to fix. It is important that, in all our discussions around this, we are firmly wedded to science and evidence. I have seen some stuff in recent weeks that makes me despair. The denial of science fundamentally undermines people's trust and confidence in politics. The people of Northern Ireland deserve better than for people to deny those issues. The sediment is full of phosphorus, and it will take about 40 years for that to be released. That is why I say that it will be decades in the fixing. However, we can make a start. We need to reduce the nutrients going into the lough. That is the fundamental issue: too much nutrient is going into the lough, but we can turn that around. I have been talking about this in the last number of weeks, and I will outline it a bit more today. Fundamental decisions are coming down the road. I will set out what they are, and I am really looking forward to engaging with other political parties about what we can do to turn this around. We can do it, but people need to come together, work together and support me in that. The first is environmental protection. If there was ever an example of why we needed an independent environmental protection agency years ago, this is it. All I need to do is list Lough Neagh, Mobuoy, the state of our precious landscapes such as the Mournes, the Sperrins and Belfast lough, and the ongoing declines in wildlife and biodiversity. It is important that we take action to strengthen environmental governance. People ask me what that looks like. That is why I asked an independent panel to look at it. It came back with an interim report in June, and, as part of that, it recommended an independent environmental protection agency. The final report is due in the next few weeks. I will take it to the Executive and look for support to strengthen environmental governance. The current situation is not sustainable. We are the only part of the UK and Ireland that does not have an independent environmental protection agency, and that cannot continue. How many more environmental disasters do we need to tell us that we need to establish it? The expert panels came back. They are doing a lot of good work, and we will get the final report and proceed on it. The motion refers to the nutrients action programme. I was extremely disheartened that the Assembly supported the motion in June that called for me to withdraw the consultation. I was really disappointed at that. To me, consulting and getting people's views is a fundamental part of government. The consultation closed on 24 July, and I thank everyone who took the time to respond. There were 3,400 responses, so thank you to everyone who responded. Further to that I have announced — people know this — that my intention is to set up a stakeholder group to through the responses and any other suggestions and find a way forward so that we can go to a further consultation and get final proposals agreed. The group consists of representatives from farming, agri-food, environmental groups and the Department. The group met informally for the first time on 27 August to discuss its remit. That was an extremely constructive meeting, and I record my profound thanks to people for coming round the table and wanting to focus on solutions. The leadership that has been shown by the Ulster Farmers' Union on this has been amazing. Agri-food wants to work together on it, and environmental NGOs also want to do that.

I ask people to put the politics aside, support the group, let them do the work, let them come together and bring forward proposals that we can get agreement on, so that we can find a way forward for nutrient management in Northern Ireland.

Fundamental to that is that we need to support farmers in Northern Ireland on that road. That is why I have met the Finance Minister and asked for a significant increase in the just transition fund for agriculture. What does that mean? It means that, for example, with the sustainable farm investment scheme, we are supporting technologies for farmers to use on the farm, which will reduce nutrients going into the lough and also deal with issues such as ammonia. I need the funding to support farmers in doing that. I also need funding for advisory support. There are four pillars around this: education, incentivisation, regulation and enforcement. I need the support so that we can have on-farm advisory support, and that is something that I am engaging with the Irish Government on because, frankly, we do not have an awful lot of money in Northern Ireland because of the UK economy situation. I will engage with the Irish Government, because the situation is clearly an all-Ireland situation, and good positive work can be done around that. That is what I have outlined in relation to the nutrients action programme. I am committed to working with people. Some people have asked me, "Who is in the group? Who is not in the group? I want to be in the group." Everyone wants to be in the group, it seems, but I have to find a situation where we do not have too many people and we can actually make progress. I have made a decision today to finalise the membership of the group. It will include the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association and the Rivers Trust. It is important that I include them. We will also set up a subgroup for science and research, and that will include AFBI and AgriSearch. I am committed to bringing people together, and we are working at the moment to get an external facilitator for it. So good work is being done. People are providing leadership and coming together. We do not all agree. There will be a robust exchange of views, but let us come together and find a way forward. However, here is the rub: I am working night and day to deal with nutrient pollution from agriculture. The lack of action on waste water infrastructure is a major issue. Farmers see a situation where NI Water has a separate regulatory regime, it gets a special deal and permission to pollute, and farmers do not think that that is fair. I have been on the record before on that, and I will say it again: I agree. That needs to end, and I need support from the Executive to deal with it, because we cannot have a situation where one major corporate polluter is given a separate special deal. We also need credible proposals to deal with waste water and sewage pollution. I will support the Infrastructure Minister if she brings forward proposals in relation to that. Ultimately, we have to make a decision here whether we are prepared to govern or not. I am prepared to support action on this, but we have to deal with sewage pollution. It is about one quarter of the problem. It is not credible that I continue to work with farmers and agri-food but that we do not see progress on that, and we have a separate regulatory regime. The other issue is climate change. We have had the warmest summer on record. Is that not a clear indication that the issues that we have seen in Lough Neagh are related to climate change? I am very clear that climate change is the biggest challenge of our time, and it is having real impacts on our society, particularly in relation to Lough Neagh. To deny the reality of climate change is mad. To be honest, we would be much better off signing up to science and evidence than to Nigel Farage. As far as I am concerned, I will continue to take action on climate change and will continue to seek support for that action, because we owe it to communities around Northern Ireland. It is not optional; it is a must. We must take climate action. There is legislation, but there is also an imperative. It would be crazy that we would not invest in renewable energy, for example, and expose people to the price fluctuations as a result of dictatorships that own fossil fuels and subject people to the perils of fuel poverty. The last issue, which people have talked about, is fines and reviewing those. We are considering a fisheries and water environment Bill. We will go out and consult further on that. We have done stakeholder engagement, and we need to have a proper regime in place for regulation and enforcement. We will consult on that Bill. There will be consultation, and we have done stakeholder engagement. If I see a motion back here saying, "Pull the consultation", I will despair. All that I am asking is for people to give us their view on the Bill so that we can have stronger regulation and enforcement. I do not think that the situation at the moment is right. Some of the fines are pitiful, and some of the prosecutions are not taking place. We need to deal with that. It would be much better if the pollution did not take place in the first place, so that is why we are focusing on education and incentivisation, and I thank the Irish Government for their engagement around supporting us with that. In conclusion, there is hope, but difficult decisions will be required. A lot of the time, this place is known for telling people what they want to hear rather than for taking the tough decisions and doing so together. I have hope and an ambition, and it is for other people to decide whether it happens. It is that we can go to the shores of Lough Neagh next year. I am not saying that the situation will have been fixed or that we will not see a repeat of the scenes. Rather, I am saying that we will have taken the difficult decisions and that there will be real action. There are no quick fixes. There have been decades of neglect, and the situation cannot be turned around quickly, but it is important that we take the difficult decisions in order to address it. I commend everyone who has engaged with me thus far. I look forward to engaging with party leaders in the time ahead. We hope to be able to make progress. What has happened in recent months is an abdication of leadership. We need to draw a line in the sand, and we need to say to people that we are prepared to take difficult decisions and are prepared to move forward.

2,446 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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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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