The 50 year cover up that POISONED the largest lake in Ireland

In summer 2023 a huge blue green algae bloom appeared on Lough Neagh and turned 392 square kilometres of water into a toxic green soup. The question is, why did it happen? The truth goes right back to the 1950s.

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[StephenJReid]

A couple of things! 1. This video has taken off in a way I didn't expect as it's not my usual kind of content. Welcome to all the new subscribers and hopefully you like a mix of outdoors content 🙂


3. I'm planning a follow up video about the solutions to this issue, but I have no idea when I'll get to it.

[Daedric_Sion]

Another example of someone on youtube doing a better job of reporting on this than the mainstream media. Great work.

[countcarmel]

I’m from NI and at lake annecy in France at the minute. Decades ago they put legislation in place to prevent exactly what has happened to lough neagh! It’s now the cleanest lake in Europe and the water is crystal clear. Political negligence, incompetence and indifference is the root of the lough neagh issue without a doubt.

[Le_Petit_Lapin]

Political incompetence? Here? In N.Ireland? _Never!_

[ianwilkinson]

Very engaging video Stephen. Also worth noting that in the 1970s sewage treatment plants around the Lough Neagh discharged directly into it. When the Blue Green algae blooms occurred back then, the sewage was diverted from discharge into the lough or complex tertiary treatment was installed. NI primary agriculture and food processors produce enough food for 10 million people, (NI pop is 1.9million) so we're a major exporter and therefore an intensive producer with associated levels of waste material. An old Cree indian saying is relevant here "Only after the last tree is cut down; only after the last fish is caught; only after the last lake and river are poisoned - only then will man realise that he cannot eat money."

[robskelly]

Thanks for this Stephen. My wife and myself had to permanently close our watersports business in Coleraine last year due to the Blue Green Algae flowing out of Lough Neagh. This was heartbreaking, not only for us but also for our staff and customers, some of whom had been with us since 1996. We had spent our lives on the water and were the only waterski and wakeboard school in Northern Ireland, other activities we offered were Supping, Kayaking and Canoeing - all of which are now gone. In response to a letter sent by a local MLA to the Department for the Ecomony, asking what support there was for small businesses affected by the algae to response was "The business has closed and will be missed."

[SmellyferretX]

This film deserves to "blow up" - Well filmed and informed and a really shocking situation.

[JeffLemmon-khnm]

I’m in my sixties.
My grandfather was an engineer with the US Public Health Service and began his career in Iowa. He would talk endlessly about the pig (mainly) farming and the extensive damage done to waterways- in the 1920s! The damage was largely mitigated, for some period. I can see it everywhere now because of personal greed and how we are supposed to embrace that.
Thank you for your work!

[AttilaTheDev]

Solid journalism. You should 100% do more of these. 👏

[handle]

It shows you the incompetence in Ireland, this was reported once, two years ago, in a 3 minutes segment on our national news service. We know more about America than our own country!!!!

[MarvinofMars]

I was ill from algae from May to August last year after making contact launching kayaks in the Western Shore of Lough Neagh. No warnings were in place until late June. At that stage we had rumors' of pet dogs dying on the Antrim side. (North East side). I grew up yards from this shoreline, swam daily in the summers since 1981. It is really hard to accept, the damage to the insect, mallocs, aquatic life, and wild animals like otters and birds. I stare daily at my sail boat resting on its trailer with thoughts of, if will never sail the Lough again? Our Big Friendly Giant is dying.😢

[Vivienwestphal]

This is my vote to stop calling it an "algae" and start calling it a bacteria. This is not a "bloom", it's a bacterial outbreak. I bet you if we stopped using the flowery language about "algae bloom" people would take it more seriously.

[aqueuse]

Thank you for raising the alarm so loudly ! We also have cyanobacteria problem in France and I hope it will never be as bad as here. I will stay vigilant !

[LizinationTheWise]

I'm far removed from Ireland, but we have the same issues with Lake Erie here in the US. Invasive zebra mussels, poor waste management, lack of agricultural legislation and issues with enforcement of that legislation. Struggles with balancing farming and community. Even the same issues with wastewater maintenance and septic.
Thanks for bringing light to this, the people deserve to know what's happening to our freshwater sources. I'm sad to see that it's the same issues across the ocean, but it's good to know there's people fighting to get the knowledge out there so we can start making real changes.

[markbuchanan]

This blue/green algae is in a lough local to me called "killyfole" and our kids would play in the water, . There are signs but they don't give enough information to warn people about how bad this stuff is. Brilliant video to spread awareness!

[jamessurnamepending]

More people need to know about this. I've talked to a lot of farmers who just can't comprehend why dumping sewage into rivers could be bad

[elmarieobrien]

Thanks for making this video, im sure it was a sad and difficult one, thanks for doing it

[dannybananas]

Im 37 from Dublin and this is the 1st time im hearing about this and im so happy you gave the warning about dogs dying from and others . Should set up a ad campaing for the dangers and shame the officials with images and are refusing to help the situation

[adamplevey]

Making a real ten year plan or God forbid a 20 or 30 year plan is utterly pointless for any government whose only concern is being re-elected every 3-5 years....

[techvillage]

This is a fantastic documentary - you are really, really good at it. I hope this gets the attention it deserves.