Show notes
Lough Neagh is the largest freshwater lake in the UK and rich in mythology. Five of the six counties in Northern Ireland cluster around its shores. Together with Lough Beg to the north (which we talked about in Solastalgia Ep. 9), Lough Neagh is, supposedly, a protected Ramsar site, home to rare and local plants and invertebrates, home for waterfowl, migrating breeding birds, and the rare Pollan fish. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) website states that “this site is of special value for maintaining the genetic and ecological diversity of Northern Ireland because of the quality and peculiarities of its flora and fauna. A large number of plants and animal species are confined or almost confined to this area within Northern Ireland.” The Lough also supplies Northern Ireland with 40% of our drinking water.
In summer 2023, a toxic green sludge, known as blue-green algae or cyanobacteria, accumulated in the Lough. It killed dogs, fish and waterbirds, devastated local fishing. People were advised to avoid all contact with the water and buy bottled drinking water. So vast and green it could be seen from space, the surge of poisonous cyanobacteria was a visibly horrifying symptom of decades of pollution from industrialised farming, sewage and septic tanks, aggravated by the government’s Going for Growth policy, systemic mismanagement and neglect and prolonged illegal and unregulated sand dredging.
In this episode, we speak with Dr Louise Taylor, intersectional feminist, neurodivergent ecotherapist, and founder of the collective, Love Our Lough, just one of the local campaign groups organising, protesting, raising awareness and demanding change. Louise was one of the voices of the “wake” held for Lough Neagh at Ballyronan Beach on 17 September, and the loud and colourful Belfast protest on 21 October. We talk with her about the failures of government and civil servants that have led to this environmental and public health crisis, as well as collective protest, standing for election, a 60-year-old hawthorn tree, love, taking responsibility and keeping alive the joy of activism as we cherish, protect and celebrate the beautiful Lough Neagh.
Links and Resources
Petition: Save Lough Neagh: Stop Pollution, Protect Wildlife, and Empower Local Communities! https://www.change.org/p/save-lough-neagh-stop-pollution-protect-wildlife-and-empower-local-communities
@LoveOur Lough
‘Protectors’ of Lough Neagh stage demonstration in Belfast, by Rebecca Black, Irish Examiner, Sat 21 October 2023, https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41252803.html
Environmentalists hold ‘wake’ for Lough Neagh over toxic algae bloom, by David Young, Belfast Live, 17 September 2023 https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/environmentalists-hold-wake-lough-ne…
Lough Neagh and Ecological Grief, by Louise Taylor, Psychology Today, 22 September 2023 https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/the-neurodivergent-therapist/202309/lough-neagh-and-ecological-grief
Lough Neagh has become a scene of Biblical disaster, and Stormont was central to its destruction, by Sam McBride, Belfast Telegraph, 9 September 2023, https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/sam-mcbride/lough…
Love Our Lough https://www.youtube.com/@LoveOurLough-ij9jn
Save Our Shores! Protect Lough Neagh and our inland waterways https://www.facebook.com/groups/313859551178206/
Lough Neagh and Lough Beg RAMSAR, DAERA, https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/protected-areas/lough-neagh-and-lough-beg-ramsar-0
How do we solve Lough Neagh's algae problem? Edited by Iain McDowell and Nalina Eggert, with reporting by Matt Fox and Finn Purdy, and Rebekah Wilson from Lough Neagh, BBC, 4 October 2023 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-northern-ireland-66993803
A Wake for Lough Neagh, by Nick Laird, BBC Radio 4, 23 October 2023, https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001rq4z
