PROTESTERS have hit out at what they claim has been mismanagement of Lough Neagh at a protest in Co Antrim.
The 'Loughshore Stands Up' rally was held on Sunday at Toomebridge, and attendees heard from speakers including veteran civil rights campaigner Bernadette McAliskey, who condemned the lough's private ownership by the Earl of Shaftesbury.
The former Mid-Ulster MP also said there had been an "awakening" among the public over the health of the lough - which supplies around 40% of the north's drinking water - after toxic blue-green algae bloomed over the summer months.
Mrs McAliskey also spoke of the impact to wildlife at the lough, including a decline in bird numbers, and said Stormont shutdowns over the years had weakened the ability to protect Ireland's largest inland body of water.
"What is needed in the first place is one single environmental body," she said, adding: "We need a Lough Neagh strategic plan."
Sunday's gathering, organised by the Save Our Shores group, also saw a white-line protest at Toome's Bypass Bridge, with participants including lough fishermen.
South Antrim Sinn Féin MLA Declan Kearney said the event aimed to "demonstrate our concerns about the ecological catastrophe impacting Lough Neagh and repeat the call for an urgent strategy."
Ahead of the rally, a spokesperson for Save Our Shores said: "The lough has been poisoned by decades of disastrous profiteering and government policies - time to raise our voices.”
Stormont's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has said the algae bloom is the result of climate change and "excess nutrients from agricultural and waste water systems" within the Lough Neagh catchment area."
