I am sad, sore and disgusted that nothing tangible has been done 14 months from my first story on an ecological disaster that's staring us all in the face
Over a year since I broke the story about how Lough Neagh was floundering under the weight of toxic blue-green algae that killed animals, cost jobs, sparked water worries and hit fisheries, I took to the skies to find out where we are now.
Soaring over Lough Neagh's western shore in a microlight expertly piloted by Ruth Devlin, the water was marbled green as far as the eye could see. There were columns and streaks of toxic bacteria, dotted with swans who've no choice but to live in it. Instead fields reached right to the lough shore, many of them looking like they had just been cut for silage. In my mind that means these very same fields have probably been sprayed with slurry were any rain could just wash those nutrients right into Lough Neagh to feed this awful bacteria.
We've seen it in the fake soil sample scandal that allowed agri-food businesses to get planning applications that will result in more pollution, over the line. We also saw it with RHI and the money burned with that and the ammonia advice given to councils and then retracted after the Office for Environmental Protection stepped in.
I wasn't expecting magic when Stormont got back up and running, but I was expecting something to give us hope in the face of this glowing green mess. But the rise of toxic algae again this year has instead shone a spotlight once again on the impotence of our political system and the unwillingness of those involved to make much needed changes.
But when will common sense, delivery and accountability prevail in yet another mess created by the very policies that govern how NI is run?
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