A Lough Neagh fisherman has criticised politicians who are “out in force over a march, yet when the lough and drinking water is mentioned, there’s nobody to be seen”.

Declan Coney made the comments as hundreds protested for clean water at Stormont on Saturday afternoon.

It follows a fourth summer of toxic blue-green algae choking Northern Ireland’s single biggest drinking water source, killing wildlife and leaving it a no-go zone for residents and visitors alike.

The blooms, which are sparked by agricultural, sewage and septic tank pollution, have also cost businesses and livelihoods.

Mr Coney is one of over 80 fishers who can no longer make a living on the UK and Ireland’s largest freshwater lake.

While the government has announced a £700,000 compensation scheme amid a ban on fishing juvenile European eels up to 2029, he has questioned the continued removal of 25 tonnes of mature silver eels from the protected species.

“They would be females, full of spawn, heading off to the Sargasso Sea to give future stocks a chance,” he explained.“

To take 25% is a joke.“ Nobody seems to want to listen to us. It has to change.

”The now annual algal blooms on Lough Neagh have also sparked serious concerns about the impact on the region’s drinking water.

While NI Water has repeatedly said it is safe to drink, it was criticised at the rally for refusing freedom of information requests about the quantities and types of chemicals now being used to treat Lough Neagh water being piped to almost half a million homes.

Save Lough Neagh founder, Mary O’Hagan said: “This started off as an ecological crisis but it is very much becoming a public health crisis.

“There was a freedom of information request in 2024. Northern Ireland Water won’t release the list of chemicals they are putting into our water.

“That is scary reading but you know what’s scarier, they refuse to tell us the amounts of chemicals they are using in our drinking water.

”Ruby Free from Surfers Against Sewage said “water should not be a privilege, it should be a right”.

She’s concerned about pollution impacting those using our rivers, lakes and seas recreationally.

“We know how our waterways are being polluted and how it’s impacting nature.

It’s harming our health too. ”According to research by Surfers Against Sewage 72% of people use NI waterways that have not been designated as bathing sites, and are therefore not being tested for pollutants.

“These will be the areas where the pollution is so much worse,” she added.

Antrim man, Martin K Hardy, says he’s seriously concerned about the impact toxic algae is having on wildlife like swans and otters.

He says bird eggs aren’t hatching and that the four signets that did “diminished one by one” with the last one dying three weeks ago.

“Nothing is surviving and that’s a big, big shame”.Josie Kee from Antrim Chilli Dippers - a swimming group that can no longer use the lough - asked 'what are our politicians actually doing?

'"Are they trying to divide the country to divert from the actual issues that are going on?

This is about our health."DAERA and NI Water did not respond to requests for a comment before publication.