click to visit

Lough Neagh Cycle Trail Website

Lough Neagh is the largest inland water area in the British Isles covering an area of approximately 383 square kilometres. It is located in the centre of Northern Ireland and is bordered by five of the six counties.  It has a very significant influence on waterways throughout Northern Ireland and parts of the border counties.  The shoreline of the lough extends to approximately 125 kilometres and includes seven local Council areas, Antrim, Ballymena, Cookstown, Craigavon, Dungannon, Lisburn and Magherafelt.

The rivers flowing into Lough Neagh drain over 40% of Northern Ireland, as well as part of County Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland. Lough Neagh is freshwater, there being no incursion of seawater into the Lough.

The wider Lough Neagh Area includes seven Areas of Special Scientific Interest (A.S.S.I.s), three Special Protection Areas (S.P.A.s), six National Nature Reserves as well as the Lough Neagh Ramsar site, deeming it an internationally renowned wetland.  The whole of Lough Neagh is designated a Natura 2000 site.

Over a number of years, those who have an interest in, or responsibility for Lough Neagh and its Wetlands have considered how its resources can be maximised and protected. In June 1998 the Water Appeals Commission stated that the Department could fail in its duty to protect the environment if the overall management of the Lough was not addressed as a matter of urgency. 

The Lough Neagh Advisory and Coordinating Committees responded to this by establishing a Steering Group in June 2000 to look at the strategic development of the Lough. 

This group succeeded in bringing forward the Lough Neagh Management Strategy which was developed as a result of extensive consultation with stakeholders, community groups, local authorities and statutory organisations and has received wide support since its publication in June 2002.

The proposal for the development of the Lough Neagh Strategic Fund and the Lough Neagh Partnership owes its origins to the Lough Neagh Management Strategy.

The Lough Neagh Strategic Fund is a new £3.2 million initiative funded under the E.U. Programme for Building Sustainable Prosperity to support work and lever additional resources to help achieve implementation of parts of the Lough Neagh Management Strategy.  Many parts of the Strategy are the responsibility of statutory sector bodies, however much also needs to be done by the community, local authorities and private businesses.

The Lough Neagh Strategic Fund is seeking to fund and support these bodies to help develop the Lough in an economic, environmental and socially sustainable way. The Lough Neagh Strategic Fund will operate from 2003 – 2008. The Fund is now open to applicants .

Although there are a range of organisations involved with various issues concerning Lough Neagh, there is no existing organisation with a “whole Lough” interest or remit, which has the capacity or mandate to deliver a comprehensive management programme.

The Lough Neagh Partnership now has responsibility for the delivery of the £3.2 million strategic fund.

The Strategic Fund aims to support the development of sustainable tourism and recreation, as well as concentrating on biodiversity, water quality, and associated issues such as environmental protection and improvement. The Fund will also concentrate on developing a Lough Neagh brand, and promoting and marketing the Lough. All of the needs to be addressed by the initiative relate directly back to the Lough Neagh Management Strategy, and can be categorised as follows:

The main funding bodies who contribute to the Lough Neagh Strategic Fund are the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (D.A.R.D.) and the seven local Councils around the Lough. The majority of funding is from D.A.R.D. The provision of grant assistance and the development of projects will be dependant upon a selection process. Details of the level and type of grant assistance available are contained in this website.