Campaigners dressed in black and carried a makeshift coffin.
Environmental campaigners held a ‘wake’ at Ballyronan beach for Lough Neagh lake amid claims toxic algae is killing the UK and Ireland’s largest freshwater lake
A wreath with the name of the lough was placed atop the black coffin during an event on Ballyronan beach, Co Londonderry, organised to highlight the scale of the ecological damage.Lough Neagh supplies 40% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water. It also sustains a major eel fishing industry. Climate change is another factor cited, with the temperature of the lough having risen by one degree Celsius in the last two decades.The deaths of birds and dogs have been linked to the recent algae blooms and anglers are being urged not to eat anything they catch.NI Water has insisted that its intensive treatment processes mean there is no health risk associated with drinking water sourced from the lough.
“And until that is addressed, until that imbalance is really considered, then it will continue where we see that pollution can just be done and there’s nothing to protect the lough or put those barriers or those obstacles in place to actually stop pollution.” “There’s heads of civil servants still here, there’s departments still here, there’s lots of people still here,” he said.
Mary O’Hagan, with her daughter Katie, says that the inability to use the lough for swimming has been devastating “I would be an open water swimmer and I do a bit of open water coaching as well and from when this started in June, I’ve not been able to access the lough whatsoever,” said Ms O’Hagan.
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