It’s well past time the Audit Office looked into how the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs is managing its environmental obligations
Toxic algae has been a problem on Lough Neagh since June - yet the department tasked with protecting our environment didn’t hold their first operational taskforce meeting on the issue until August 18.
Let me remind you, Northern Ireland still has no independent environment agency. We have Northern Ireland Environment Agency, which sings to the tune of DAERA. “We are currently reviewing how our ongoing and future programmes of work can help tackle these issues to protect and improve the condition of Lough Neagh and the wider Northern Ireland environment.”
At the very heart of the nature decimation we’re witnessing right before our very eyes - is whether government bodies are complying with the law. Yet despite the proximity of their sand suckers to fish spawning grounds on the bed of Lough Neagh, Nichola Mallon gave them the green light to keep going. And I’m still waiting to find out if DAERA has any plans to get rid of the derogations - which come too late for Lough Neagh - but could help other areas.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Lough Neagh: Largest lake in UK and Ireland being poisoned by toxic algaeDeadly bacteria, caused by discharge from farming and sewage, has taken over the lake that provides 40% of Northern Ireland's drinking water.
Read more »
Blue-green algae found in Lough Erne near Castle ArchdaleSignage is advising people to avoid contact with the algae and to keep animals out of the water.
Read more »
Lough Neagh: Environmentalists to hold 'wake' after algal bloomsIt has been organised after blue-green algal blooms over the summer around Lough Neagh.
Read more »
Environmentalists hold ‘wake’ for Lough Neagh over toxic algae bloomCampaigners dressed in black and carried a makeshift coffin.
Read more »
Environmentalists hold ‘wake’ for Lough Neagh over toxic algae bloomCampaigners dressed in black and carried a makeshift coffin.
Read more »
Environmentalists hold ‘wake’ for Lough Neagh over toxic algae bloomActivists dressed in black and carried a makeshift coffin to the lough shore
Read more »