As the toxic blue-green algae that poisoned Lough Neagh last summer is set to return again this year, the only secure future for the Lough  is to take it into public ownership immediately.

The largest body of fresh water on these islands is dying in plain sight through a combination of private ownership, commercial interest and an uncoordinated approach by government departments.

While Lough Neagh’s water is publicly owned, the lough bed and its banks are owned by Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury who lives on his 5,500-acre family estate in Dorset.

The emergence of the poisonous blue-green algae is due to a number of environmental factors, all of which would be better managed and addressed under full public ownership.

Major Problem

Slurry as well as  other nitrogen, and phosphate-rich fertilisers, are being used on fields that carry rainwater to waterways and then into the Lough. As a result of this, slurry and other run-off from farmland, along with sewage discharges, nutrient pollution becomes a major problem.

Unseasonal weather due to climate change, has exacerbated the problem. As a result of this nutrient overload, Lough Neagh has become an ecological disaster.

In recent interviews Ashley-Cooper has restated that while he was open to selling Lough Neagh to the Northern Ireland Assembly, he would not give it away for free. Why would he? He earns a fortune from it.

In addition to the hunting and shooting ‘rights’ he claims for the Lough’s banks and surrounding areas, the 12^th Earl of Shaftsbury receives a royalty payment from the extraction of sand from the Lough.

Money Spinning Sand Removal

Up to 1.5 million tonnes of sand  was excavated  from  Lough Neagh in 2021 by a number of companies operating under licence. Prior to that, unauthorised and unregulated industrial-scale extraction was taking place.

Industry figures, estimate that around 30 million tonnes of sand has been extracted from the lough bed since the 2000s  Although the 12^th Earl of Shaftsbury receives payment for every tonne of sand that is dredged out of Lough Neagh, the level of those royalties has not been made public in recent years.

Nicholas Ashley-Cooper recently told the BBC, ‘I always get blamed for things that are completely outside of my control’ but he is very much in control of the sand extraction that encroaches on nursery areas for spawning fish, creating what local fishermen claim are “dead zones”.

Effects on Wildlife

The knock-on effects for the Lough’s other wildlife are equally serious. The Lough’s birds and other wildlife populations have been in sharp decline over recent decades.

The number of winter migrating birds – including diving duck species goldeneye, tufted duck, pochard and scaup – have dropped by nearly 80% in recent years

The numbers of insect and snail species living at the bottom of the lake have also declined by around two thirds during the same period.

Sinn Fein ‘ balancing act’

Despite the obvious and documented problems caused by commercial sand dredging, several Mid Ulster Sinn Fein councillors recently cautioned that they had ‘an obligation to consider the balance between commercial and environmental needs when dealing with mineral extraction on the Lough bed, which is currently permitted to continue until 2032’.

It is precisely this ‘pragmatic’, business-friendly approach that has led to the problems that we see in Lough Neagh, and in the wider world. Seeking this mythical ‘balance’ between the natural environment and the requirements of capitalists has led us to the mess we’re in.

The fact that no single government department has the decision making responsibility for the management of the Lough and its resources further compounds the problem.

Attempts were made in the early 1970s, and again in 2012, to bring the Lough into government control. However, a 2014 report produced by senior civil servants advised against buying the Lough.

The damage done so far will take years to reverse and repair. Only a comprehensive, legislative and community sensitive strategic approach can secure Lough Neagh’s future.

That can only be achieved by taking the largest fresh water lough in these islands into public control supported by  a single executive authority working to a socialist environmental agenda.