30 Apr 2026

Image description: White sheep on green pastures near a lake, taken in Loughross, County Donegal, Ireland. Photo by Brian Kelly on Unsplash   Regulations falling short despite farmer efforts Despite positive investment and efforts from farmers, key regulations designed to reduce agricultural pollution have failed to deliver meaningful improvements to water quality in Northern Ireland, […]

23 Apr 2026

Photo by Iain on Unsplash   The UK and Ireland’s largest freshwater lake, Lough Neagh, is under threat from commercial sand dredging, according to new research published in the Journal of Environmental Management. The study, led by Queen’s University Belfast in collaboration with Newcastle University, is reportedly the first-of-its-kind and researchers found that disturbance created […]

26 Mar 2026

Image description: Ecologically damaging Blue Green algae blooms (cyanobacteria), close up from river bank along Lough Neagh, Northern Ireland.   A High Court challenge has been launched by an eel fisherman against the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) over the Lough Neagh pollution crisis.  The judicial review his being brought against DAERA by eel fisher […]

19 Mar 2026

Image description: A child standing on a paddleboard wearing a green safety jacket and brightly-coloured swimming trunks. Photo by Ben White on Unsplash   The deterioration of water quality in the UK’s largest lake now threatens to intersect with another public health crisis, the rise of bacteria resistant to antibiotics, the so called ‘Superbugs’. As […]

08 Jan 2026

Image description: An algae bloom floating on the water’s surface, with a bird and its chick swimming through. Image by Liz Harrell on Unsplash   The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has launched the first stage of an online data viewer providing near real-time monitoring of Lough Neagh’s water quality as part […]