Lough Neagh: Project launched to tackle blue-green algae

In the second phase, two to three of those concepts will be chosen and developed as potential pilot solutions.

The £450,000 initiative includes money from Daera and from the SBRI challenge fund at the Department for the Economy.

Daera Minister Andrew Muir said while it would “not fully address” the blue-green algae problem, it would help improve the lough.

“It will contribute, along with the other actions contained in the Lough Neagh report, to help deliver my vision to have a healthy, resilient environment with high water quality status and environment standards thereby contributing to the health and wellbeing of our citizens,” he said.

“Whilst much attention has been devoted to the issues with blue-green algae in Lough Neagh, I am equally focussed on water quality issues across Northern Ireland and this work will hopefully provide solutions that can be applied to any area that has been affected by the emergence of blue-green algae.”