Eamonn McCann says the on the dire state of Lough Neagh’s management is ‘A civil rights issue’
Members of People Before Profit’s Mid Ulster members protested for immediate Rights of Nature protection for Lough Neagh and for the urgent return of its ownership to the local people who showed great engagement from people at Ballyronan Marina along the shores of Lough Neagh on 27 August 2023.
Members said ‘To coincide with the People Before Profit Lurgan Branch protest at the other side of the lough, we stood at the Lap the Lough cycle event to campaign against the injustice, and the communities who have witnessed a focal point of Irish history and culture treated without a shred of respect.
40% of the population drink from water sourced from the Lough, and as one of Europe’s largest lakes. It deserves to be treated as the integral part of our lives that it is. Flora and fauna across the lough shore have been butchered by excesses of capitalism, and rampant waste.
The Lough has had a long history of colonial and capitalistic harm. Local campaigner Michael Farrell and People’s Democracy fought against corporate injustice upon those whose livelihoods depended on the Lough in the 70s.
In our new age of climate crisis and late capitalism the need for action, and eco-socialism, has never been more urgent.
The Earl of Shaftesbury should return his “ownership” rights immediately so that the whole Lough can be managed effectively and fairly for all living things.’