A County Armagh eel fisherman has launched a High Court challenge against Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), arguing that government inaction is allowing one of the UK’s largest freshwater lakes to die from pollution.
Declan Conlon, whose family has fished Lough Neagh for generations, has brought a judicial review against the department, claiming it continues to rely on inadequate plans and unenforced pollution regimes despite clear evidence of ecological collapse over several years.
Lough Neagh, the largest lake in the UK and Ireland, supplies approximately 40% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water. In recent years, it has suffered severe blue-green algal blooms so extensive they can be seen from space. The blooms, driven by agricultural nutrient pollution and exacerbated by climate change, have caused widespread ecological damage and raised public health concerns.
In a sworn affidavit to the High Court of Justice in Northern Ireland, Mr Conlon described his family’s deep generational connection to the lough.
‘Our father James Gerard Conlon was an eel fisherman and his father Hughie Conlon before him was an eel fisherman. Going further back than that, beyond memory, my family would all have been fishermen,’ he said.
Mr Conlon told the court that his way of life had been destroyed by the algae and that he wanted DAERA to take the action necessary to safeguard the lough for future generations.
Speaking about the legal challenge, he said: ‘I’ve fished Lough Neagh all my life, just like my father and his father before him. Now I’m watching it die in front of my eyes. This isn’t just about my livelihood – it’s about justice for the lough before there’s nothing left for the next generation.’
Enda McGarrity, solicitor for Mr Conlon at P.A. Duffy & Co., said the case reflected the lived experience of those whose livelihoods depend on the lough’s health. He described a collapse unlike anything seen before, with wildlife disappearing and stretches of water becoming so foul-smelling that people cannot stand near them.
River Action UK and Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland have confirmed they will apply to intervene in the case. River Action’s Head of Legal, Emma Dearnaley, said the challenge raised urgent questions about whether legal frameworks designed to protect Northern Ireland’s waters were being properly applied.
‘For too long, decision-makers have relied on plans and promises while pollution has continued and Lough Neagh has visibly deteriorated,’ she said.
James Orr, Director of Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland, described the legal action as a sad indictment of the state of environmental protection.
‘Lough Neagh is dying and it is dying in plain sight,” he said. “For generations the lough and its communities have been betrayed by those in power. Yet again, taking this case shows the leadership to protect our life support systems is coming from our local communities.’
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