Shores of Traád

Ok folks, it's time to have your say on the future of Traád Point. Mid Ulster Council are holding a public meeting in Ballyronan Marina Centre on the 14th of February 7.30pm . They will present a list of proposals that you can have a look at and have your say. Remember Traád is your place and the place of your ancestors. We as a community have been waiting on this for 20+ years. A whole generation of our children have missed out on the memories of this jewel on the Shores of Lough Neagh.
We almost lost it once, now we have a chance to reclaim it back , have your say.

This image has been taken in near-infrared. It slows us chlorophyll, plant growth (in this case algae). You can clearly see the swirls of algae as the current and wind move it around the Lough, concentrating on the Loughs eastern shore due to our dominant weather system which comes from the west pushing the wind and water to our eastern shore

My son John ( the brains behind Shore's of Traád ) owns a company that uses satellite's as part of his business.
He has directed a number of images to be taken of Lough Neagh for us.
You can clearly see the coverage to the algae around the Lough.

Lough Neagh: Council challenges plans to relax sand dredging restrictions Firms which dredge sand from the lough bed had asked the Department for Infrastructure to allow them to use larger dredging barges and allow the barges to operate after dark during winter

In a five-year period between the start of 2017 and the end of 2021, NI Water was found to have been responsible for 591 polluting discharges into waterways and the sea. However, the body only received 28 warning letters, and was fined all but nine times.

7m tonnes of raw sewage a year discharged into Northern Irish rivers

Every recorded waterway in the country has been found to be in poor health.

Upwards of 3m tonnes of untreated human waste was found to have been released across the Belfast metropolitan area, in which more than a third of Northern Ireland’s population resides.

About 200,000 tonnes of sewage are discharged each year in the catchment area for Lough Neagh, where 40% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water is sourced,

Northern Ireland is already the 12th worst region in the world for biodiversity loss. These pollution figures indicate that this situation is likely to further decline.

Waterways have been manipulated into straight lines with no room for wetland areas when rainfall is higher, leading to overflows at water treatment facilities.

From silage run off to slurry spills, pesticide use, even when incidents cause massive fish kills does the penalty result in the most severe punishments available.

Poor soil quality, straight rivers, too much poo and a changing climate leading to heavy rain makes fields turn from absorbent sponges to planks of wood, letting everything drain off.

Tens of thousands of pieces of litter wash up along the Northern Ireland coastline each year.

Microplastics found in 100% of freshwater bird poo’s sampled at QUB marine lab, half of which were species from Lough Neagh.

Every day approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans.

Approximately 5,000 items of marine plastic pollution have been found per mile of beach in the UK.

A little May Day add on.

The ancient festival of Bealtaine welcomed the arrival of summer and was marked by a variety of customs, most of which were associated with warding off bad luck, hopes for a bountiful summer and protecting family, home and livestock. While there are many May customs – including May Queens, Bealtaine bonfires, May Day butter and even washing your face with the morning dew – none is so common as those involving flowers. Perhaps the most common custom of all was the picking and bringing home of fresh flowers. Usually, these were gathered before dusk on May Eve by the children, although in many places the tradition lingers that they should be picked before dawn on May Day. The children usually made ‘posies’ of the flowers, small bouquets, which they hung up in the house or laid on the doorsteps or window-sills or hung over the door.

So if you have any flowers round or about, why not pick a few, even if they are just daisies, and help continue a custom our forefathers would have known well.

Happy May Day