Justice for Lough Neagh: Eel Fisherman Launches High Court Challenge Over Environmental Crisis at Lough Neagh
by Enda McGarrity & Sarah Kirk
Lough Neagh is the largest lake in the United Kingdom and Ireland, a body of water so vast that it supplies approximately 40% of Northern Ireland's drinking water. For generations, its shores and shallows have sustained fishing communities whose connection to the lough stretches back beyond living memory.
However, in recent years, this irreplaceable natural resource has experienced a profound and visible ecological collapse, evidenced by severe blue-green algal blooms visible from space, significant loss of wildlife, and contamination of the water to such an extent that it poses a real and ongoing risk to human health.
It is against this backdrop that eel fisherman Mr. Declan Conlon, whose family has fished Lough Neagh for generations, has brought a judicial review against the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), arguing that the Department continues to rely on inadequate plans and unenforced pollution regimes despite clear evidence of ecological catastrophe.
PA Duffy & Co Solicitors represents Mr. Conlon in this landmark challenge.
Enda McGarrity, Director at PA Duffy & Co and solicitor for Mr.Conlon, said the case reflects the lived experience of those whose livelihoods depend on the health of the lough and is about securing justice for Lough Neagh and the communities who rely on it:
"Declan Conlon has fished Lough Neagh his entire life, and what he has witnessed in recent years is a collapse unlike anything seen before.
"Where there was once abundance, there are now no flies for the eels to feed on, barely any birds, and stretches of water that smell so foul you cannot stand near them.
"He has seen the impact with his own eyes, from wildlife disappearing to reports of animals becoming sick after contact with the water. The blue-green algae is not just unsightly; it poses a real risk to health.
"Declan did not take this case lightly. He has brought this challenge because he believes the lough, his livelihood, his way of life, and the community that depends on it deserve proper protection under the law."
Our client, Mr. Conlon, has a deep generational connection to Lough Neagh. His father, James Gerard Conlon, was an eel fisherman, and his grandfather Hughie Conlon before him. In a statement Mr. Conlon said:
"I've fished Lough Neagh all my life, just like my father and his father before him. Now I'm watching it die in front of my eyes. This isn't just about my livelihood – it's about justice for the lough before there's nothing left for the next generation".
Mr. Conlon is supported in this challenge by members of the fishing community, clean water campaigners, River Action UK and Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland both of which have applied to intervene in the proceedings. River Action seeks to assist the Court by drawing on recent legal cases addressing agricultural waste and nutrient pollution in England. Friends of the Earth NI, which has been campaigning to protect Lough Neagh for decades and whose five-point plan for the lough has been supported by over 50,000 people, has described it as "a sad indictment of the state of our environmental protection regime that it has taken a local fisherman to challenge government inaction through the Courts".