Justice for Lough Neagh

We have applied to intervene in a landmark judicial review brought by eel fisherman Declan Conlon, challenging the Northern Ireland government’s failure to tackle pollution in Lough Neagh.

Our intervention focuses on whether DAERA is properly applying the law or continuing to rely on weak plans, ineffective measures and unenforced regimes, while pollution worsens. We will be supporting the Court with legal arguments and evidence to help establish what meaningful action to reduce pollution should look like.

Our role is to support and amplify these efforts – sharing legal, policy and campaigning expertise where needed, building connections, and helping ensure that those most affected are heard.

We are doing this in partnership with organisations such as Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland and building relationships with local communities.

Lough Neagh is one of the most polluted water bodies in the UK, yet the crisis has not received the national attention it deserves.

We are working to change that by supporting media coverage and creating key campaign moments that highlight the scale of the problem. By raising awareness across the wider UK, we aim to build pressure for urgent action.

River Action took part in the first review hearing of Declan Conlon’s Judicial Review, which, for the first time, asks the court to decide whether the Northern Ireland government is doing enough to tackle the water pollution crisis in Lough Neagh.

River Action has applied to intervene in Mr Conlon’s case to help the court assess whether DAERA is complying with its legal duties by raising important legal and practical matters. Our focus is on what the law requires and particularly the need for a lawful River Basin Management Plan to include clear actions and measures capable of restoring water quality.

Drawing on major legal precedents on agricultural waste and nutrient pollution in which River Action has been involved in England, we hope to establish that DAERA should put in place stronger measures as part of a lawful plan, including the proper enforcement of regulation to control the spreading of manure and sewage sludge, the implications of the classification of manure as waste following National Farmers’ Union v Herefordshire Council, and the need for planning and permitting to take account of cumulative pollution impacts.

We will also seek to provide evidence to help the court understand the scale of the problem and what measures and practices could lead to the necessary reduction in pollution.

Eel fisherman Mr Declan Conlon, whose family has fished Lough Neagh for generations, brings a judicial review against DAERA.

The case argues that DAERA continues to rely on inadequate plans and unenforced pollution regimes despite clear evidence of ecological collapse over several years. It raises serious questions about how agricultural pollution is addressed by DAERA in Northern Ireland.

We wrote to several local planning authorities (including all Northern Ireland councils that have shores on Lough Neagh) about their local plans and policies and the extent to which they fail to address the impact of agricultural waste on water bodies such as Lough Neagh.

When open, River Action submitted the position outlined in the letters as a consultation response to the LPA’s who were in the process of finalising their development plans.

We wrote (in the light of the court’s conclusion in NFU v Herefordshire Council that manure from intensive poultry units is to be classified as waste) to the Department for Infrastructure (“DfI”) and the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (“DAERA”) about the impact of agricultural waste (including in particular manure) on rivers and water bodies in Northern Ireland.

DfI responds, saying “council planning authorities are responsible for the formulation of local policies and proposals in LDPs for their plan areas including for policies in relation to development in the countryside (agriculture and forestry development) and waste management.

We raised concerns with DAERA that the current regulatory approach is insufficient to address the scale of the environmental crisis. River Action noted a significant increase in non-compliant farms and warned that the current “risk-based” inspection approach is inadequate, as data shows a high level of background non-compliance across randomly selected farms.

We made a series of Environmental Information requests to DAERA concerning the levels of non-compliance by agricultural units in Northern Ireland with agricultural water pollution, and the number of inspections and enforcement proceedings conducted by DAERA.