Lough Neagh: Campaigners gather to sing in choirs for the lough

Campaigners gathered at several locations around Lough Neagh on Sunday to come together to 'Sing for the Lough'. The community choirs said they wanted to us the "emotive power of song" to highlight what they say is the desperate need for a long-term recovery plan to combat pollution and ecological decline. Lough Neagh has been turned green for the past three summers, due to potentially toxic blue-green algal blooms. Una McCann is the director of one of the choirs involved, and wrote a song called 'Water is Life', that all the choirs sang simultaneously. "I wrote the song because I wanted to have something that is personal to this issue, and personal to the community." McCann said that five choirs took part in the event in different locations. "The aim is to give a voice to the lough and come together as a community to highlight through song, how we feel about the Lough," she explained. Organisers said the event resonated a powerful message of solidarity and was a grassroots response to the ecological plight of the UK and Ireland's largest freshwater lake. Nicole Minogue, who was at the event, said she feels the lough is undervalued. "We need to bring attention to the environmental