Nature Recovery Strategy Consultation | Ulster Wildlife DAERA is developing a new Nature Recovery Strategy for Northern Ireland, and this is your chance to help shape it. We have provided eight talking points to help you respond. The more people speak up, ...

www.ulsterwildlife.org/nature-recov...

#UlsterWildlife #NatureRecoveryStrategy #NI #LoughNeagh #Wildlife #Nature #Ecology #SpéirGhorm #SpeirGorm #GreenSky

On Sunday, 19th April, at 2:30pm, the shores of Lough Neagh will resonate with a powerful message of solidarity as communities gather for Sing for the Lough. In a grassroots response to the ongoing ecological plight of the UK and Ireland’s largest freshwater lake, choirs from every corner of the shoreline will raise their voices simultaneously to call for urgent action and restoration. The event marks a unique collaboration between five prominent community choral leaders* who have joined forces to mobilise hundreds of singers. Recognizing the Lough as the lifeblood of the region, the initiative aims to use the emotive power of song to highlight the desperate need for a long-term recovery plan to combat pollution and ecological decline. *Choral Leaders: Mairéad Duffy, Kate Fletcher, Anne McCambridge, Una McCann and Kirsty Orr. A Song of Solidarity Water is Life, an original song composed by Una McCann specifically for this occasion will be performed at various locations around the Lough. "Music has a way of cutting through the noise and reaching the heart of an issue," says lead organiser Mairéad Duffy, Gathered Voices, Dungannon. "By standing on the shores and singing together, we aren't just singing; we are witnessing the beauty of the Lough and lamenting its current state. We are singing because the Lough cannot speak for itself." Event Details Event: Sing for the Lough Date: Sunday, 19th April 2026 Locations: 14:30 Antrim-Finn McCool statue Oxford Island: Lough Neagh Discovery Centre Washing Bay BT71 5DX Toome: Lock Keeper’s Cottage 15:45 Ballyronan, BT45 6JA Core Objective: To raise public awareness and call for immediate governmental and environmental intervention to save Lough Neagh.

Voices Unite Across the Shoreline: ‘Sing for the Lough’ Set to Raise Awareness for Lough Neagh’s Environmental Crisis. Choirs from every corner of the shoreline will raise their voices simultaneously to call for urgent action and restoration.
Come and stand with us in solidarity. #LoughNeagh

Eel fisher takes on authorities at Belfast court over pollution in UK’s largest lake Declan Conlon will argue officials have failed to act despite clear evidence of the ecological collapse of Lough Neagh

Shocking dereliction of duty by the authorities here in #Loughneagh @Daera www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Fisherman launches High Court challenge against DAERA over Lough Neagh pollution crisis - Water Magazine Eel fisherman Mr Declan Conlon brings judicial review against Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.

Fisherman launches High Court challenge against DAERA over Lough Neagh pollution crisis...

www.watermagazine.co.uk/2026/03/24/f...

#LoughNeagh #Eels #Fishermen #Fishing #Pollution

Another dimension of the ecological disaster for #LoughNeagh - the expansion of #AMR is a threat to people and animals globally. All the more devastating because it’s spread is heavily assisted by animal agriculture- and therefore avoidable ⬇️

Looking forward to presenting our #CLEARNeagh project in the UK Freshwater Quality Research Programme webinar.

We’ll explore #eDNA and #AMR monitoring across the catchment which may identify drivers of degradation and support long-term recovery.

#freshwater #river #riverpollution #LoughNeagh 🌍💧

Lough Neagh photo by Peter Harper

1/3 Find out about a new research project which will generate scientific evidence to help restore #LoughNeagh - Northern Ireland’s largest & most iconic lake.

Join the next Uk Freshwater Quality Programme webinar
📅Wed 25 March
⌚ 11am

Presented by @susheelbusi.bsky.social @ukceh.bsky.social

NI Water clarifies position on phosphorus contributions to Lough Neagh - Water Magazine Northern Ireland Water issues statement clarifying previous comments regarding the proportion of phosphorus entering Lough Neagh attributed to agriculture.

NI Water clarifies position on phosphorus contributions to Lough Neagh...

www.watermagazine.co.uk/2026/03/03/n...

#WaterQuality #LoughNeagh #NIWater #NorthernIreland

Saw this in my YouTube feed yesterday. Should be of interest to any followers in Northern Ireland. #LoughNeagh youtube.com/shorts/yc1jo...

As an aside, why are YouTube not on Bluesky!

DNA-Led Project Targets Pollution Behind Lough Neagh’s Algae Crisis The largest lake in the UK, Lough Neagh, once beautiful and clear, is now covered in blue and green algae blooms, a consequence of pollution from farm runoff, among other factors.According to the Belf...

A new project to identify pollutants in #LoughNeagh will launch next month.

Costing around £920,000, the project will use innovative DNA methods to identify #pollution pathways.

Read more 👇

www.guardingfreshwaters.co.uk/post/dna-led...

Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

📣Ballinderry Rivers Trust Webinar tonight: Importance of #Peatlands & their role in our environment, why they matter for biodiversity, water quality, & climate resilience & learn about the peatland survey in the #LoughNeagh Catchment.
📅Register: shorturl.at/uWFeS

🌊 ‘Thinking Like a Fish: Nature Based Solutions for Lough Neagh’ - Prof Jim McAdam OBE and Helen Keys MBE explored nature-based solutions for #LoughNeagh - while @daera-ni.gov.uk Minister @andrewmuirni.bsky.social brought a political perspective to the conversation.

This questioning of the science is something @tagarin.bsky.social, Elliott Hill and I discuss in our analysis of the party politics of the #LoughNeagh crisis, recently published in @bjpir.bsky.social. #openaccess journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

‘It’s an open invasion’: how millions of quagga mussels changed Lake Geneva for ever The molluscs are decimating food chains in Switzerland, have devastated the Great Lakes in North America, and this week were spotted in Northern Ireland for the first time

#loughneagh will be next www.theguardian.com/environment/...

[cont.d]

The session will explore how farmers, scientists and policymakers are working together to restore #LoughNeagh using nature-based solutions, and how this work can now be scaled.

🕓 16:00-17:20, Thursday 8 January. Chaired by Will Frazer.

The environment as a second policy dimension in a deeply divided society: The politics of Northern Ireland’s Lough Neagh crisis - Timofey Agarin, Laurence Cooley, Elliott Hill, 2025 Environmental concerns are often marginalised in post-conflict societies. Especially under power-sharing, political parties tend to prioritise their ethno-natio...

This article is now out in @bjpir.bsky.social! In it, we explain why government action to tackle the ecological crisis at Lough Neagh has lagged behind the apparent rhetorical consensus about its importance. Has Muir been set up to fail? #LoughNeagh #openaccess journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

a drawing to illustrate 5 projects researching to improve water quality in rivers, showing a healthy river on the left and a polluted river on the right.

📢UK RESEARCH FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

#LoughNeagh - Microbial Source Tracking for Enhanced Environmental Analysis.

#NERC @ukri.org and #DAERA are funding a call for a new research project focusing on the Lough Neagh catchment system.

water.leeds.ac.uk/news/uk-rese...

Photograph looking up at a metal sculpture of a figure holding a large rock above its head, against a mid-blue, cloudless sky. The sculpture is of Finn McCool and is found on the edge of Lough Neagh, in Antrim. It is made of stainless steel and the work of Spanish artist Casto Solano, who named it 'The Protector of the Lough'. Finn McCool is a mythical giant who picked up a piece of earth and lobbed it at his enemy in Scotland. The hole left by the piece of earth became the enormous and beautiful Lough Neagh. The piece of earth became the Isle of Man. So he couldn't throw quite as far as he thought but a valiant effort nonetheless!

Strength and Determination
for #BlueSkyMonday

#EastCoastKin #photography #sculpture #FinnMcCool #LoughNeagh #Antrim #rock #NorthernIreland #Bluesky
(iPhone camera)

This week Friends of the Earth NI declared Stormont a crime scene. Decisions made by the Executive have caused the death of Lough Neagh and we’ve had enough.
#ecocide #ProtectOurWaters #water #loughneagh

Who’s responsible for Lough Neagh’s phosphorus pollution?

Agriculture (61%) leads, while wastewater & septics tanks adds 30%.

Read our full analysis here 👉 factcheckni.org/articles/lou...

#LoughNeagh #FactCheckNI #NIEnvironment

Northern Ireland Minister urges action on Lough Neagh pollution - Water Magazine Andrew Muir has voiced growing concern over the management of water pollution in Northern Ireland warning that urgent action is required.

Northern Ireland’s Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Andrew Muir, has voiced growing concern over the management of water pollution in the region...

www.watermagazine.co.uk/2025/10/16/n...

#loughneagh #algaeblooms

#stunday
#LoughNeagh
#CoAntrim

#Relax
#LoughNeagh
#CoAntrim
#Ireland

@quadratdtp.bsky.social & @climatecocentre.bsky.social PhD Student Dario Di Girolamo has been working with Ulster Uni librarians to digitise 27 PhDs detailing the ecology & biology of #LoughNeagh they are curated here & freely available: climatecocentre.org/news/lough-nea… please share!

Really pleased to have had an article that helps to explain this situation accepted by @bjpir.bsky.social this afternoon – the result of an ongoing collaboration with two of my favourite people, @tagarin.bsky.social and Elliott Hill. It will hopefully be in print soon. #LoughNeagh

Lough Neagh: The Danger of A Single Story

🌊 Read her blog here : www.involve.org.uk/news-opinion...

And submit your nominations by the 6th of October, link here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

#LoughNeagh #CitizensAssembly #CoDesign #CommunityEngagement #SingleStory

UK's largest lake 'dying' as algae blooms worsen > www.msn.com/en-za/news/o... #ClimateCrisis #Heatwave #Drought #Algae #LoughNeagh #NorthernIreland

UK's largest lake 'dying' as algae blooms worsen • Muser Press For the third year running toxic blue-green algae blooms that look like pea soup and smell like rotten eggs have covered much of Lough Neagh, the largest lake

For the third year running toxic blue-green #algaeblooms that look like pea soup and smell like rotten eggs have covered much of #LoughNeagh, the largest lake in the #UK and #Ireland.
But this summer, the thick green veneer — so widespread it is visible from space — has been worse than ever.

‘It’s dying in front of our eyes’: how the UK’s largest lake became an ecological disaster Signs tout a natural paradise, but pollution from over-farming has left Northern Ireland’s Lough Neagh choked by toxic algae

Terrible 😢
#loughneagh
The 400 sq km freshwater lough is choking on recurring toxic algal blooms that coat the surface, kill wildlife, unleash stenches and make the lake all but unusable. Eel fishing has been suspended and tourists have fled.
#pollution
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

‘It’s dying in front of our eyes’: how the UK’s largest lake became an ecological disaster Signs tout a natural paradise, but pollution from over-farming has left Northern Ireland’s Lough Neagh choked by toxic algae

Surely this ecological disaster has passed the point where it can be left to MLAs who are free to block rescue efforts if it suits them?

#loughneagh

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...