Stormont executive expected to approve action plan

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Stormont executive expected to approve action plan

8 minutes ago

By Louise Cullen, BBC NI agriculture and environment correspondent

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Blue-green algae has re-appeared on Lough Neagh in recent days

The Northern Ireland Executive is expected to approve the Lough Neagh Action Plan at its meeting on Thursday.

Twenty of the plan’s 37 actions have already been given the go-ahead as they fell to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).

But the remaining 17 actions are cross-cutting and require executive consent.

The future management of the Lough was the focus of meetings on Wednesday between the Agriculture and Environment Minister and the owner of the Lough’s soil and bed.

The Earl of Shaftesbury

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had been “constructive”.

Nicholas Ashley-Cooper has previously outlined his preference to transfer his ownership to charity or community trust model, with Rights of Nature involved.

Lough Neagh: Why has the ***’s largest lake become green and toxic?

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Andrew Muir has announced a range of actions to tackle the issue

At the start of June,

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The measures are part of the Lough Neagh Report and Action Plan that fall under his department.

They included a research initiative as well as a tree-planting project and programmes aimed at supporting farmers and slurry spreaders.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Lough Neagh Partnership expressed “profound disappointment over the Northern Ireland Executive’s ******** to approve a critical action plan to prioritise addressing this environmental catastrophe”.

Gerry Darby from the group said: “It has come as no surprise that the algae is back with a vengeance, as it was only a matter of time with the right weather conditions that it would reappear.”

Has blue-green algae returned to Lough Neagh this year?

Earl of Shaftesbury has held constructive discussions with environment minister.

In July 2023, blue-green algae had appeared on Lough Neagh at a level not seen since the 1970s.

In 2024, the Department for Agriculture, Environment, and Rural Affairs (Daera) recorded 47 confirmed reports of blue-green algae.

Seventeen of these confirmed sightings have been on Lough Neagh.

On Tuesday, Daera advised people against bathing at Rea’s Wood in Lough Neagh due to “the presence of a thick algal *****”.

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For more on this story you can catch-up on Spotlight’s The Lough Neagh Monster, first broadcast in June 2024,

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