'We want to give a voice to Lough Neagh', singers say

Campaigners gathered at several locations around Lough Neagh on Sunday to come together to 'Sing for the Lough'.

The community choirs said they wanted to us the "emotive power of song" to highlight what they say is the desperate need for a long-term recovery plan to combat pollution and ecological decline.

Lough Neagh has been turned green for the past three summers, due to potentially toxic blue-green algal blooms.

Una McCann is the director of one of the choirs involved, and wrote a song called 'Water is Life', that all the choirs sang simultaneously.

"I wrote the song because I wanted to have something that is personal to this issue, and personal to the community."

McCann said that five choirs took part in the event in different locations.

"The aim is to give a voice to the lough and come together as a community to highlight through song, how we feel about the Lough," she explained.

Organisers said the event resonated a powerful message of solidarity and was a grassroots response to the ecological plight of the UK and Ireland's largest freshwater lake.

Nicole Minogue, who was at the event, said she feels the lough is undervalued.

"We need to bring attention to the environmental disaster that is happening here.

"I think singing is a good way to bring attention to the issue, it is bringing people together to do something joyful," she said.

Singer Paddy Brannigan said it was "important" to sing there on Sunday as "the lough is in a bad way".

He said communities were "getting together through singing to draw attention to the state of the lough."

A Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) spokesperson said the blue green algae in Lough Neagh "is a serious environmental and public health issue" which it is treating with "the utmost urgency".

Daera said Minister Andrew Muir "fully recognises the strength of public concern and understands the frustration many communities feel about the condition of Lough Neagh – especially those living nearby."

Muir said the crisis "has been decades in the making" and whilst there are "no quick fixes, restoring and protecting the ecological health of the lough is possible".

It looks at ways of reducing nutrients and supporting the recovery of the Lough.

Daera's spokesperson said that "progress is being made to implement the actions required in the Lough Neagh Action Plan".