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Independent environment agency may be part of plan

Getty Images Row of five trees, without leaves, reflected in the waters of Lough NeaghGetty Images
There has been growing concern about the state of the waterways

Options to create an independent environment protection agency in Northern Ireland are to be considered by a panel of experts as part of a new Stormont review.

Environment Minister Andrew Muir has appointed three experts to carry out the review in a bid to strengthen environmental governance.

Muir had promised to address growing public concerns over the pollution of Northern Ireland's waterways.

It comes more than a year after the UK's biggest freshwater lake, Lough Neagh, turned green due to the growth of toxic blue-green algae.

Long-term pollution - largely from agriculture - was identified as a key part of the problem as fertiliser run-off from surrounding fields fuelled bacterial growth.

Mr Muir said: "I am committed to strengthening environmental governance in Northern Ireland and ensuring that we have the right structures in place to protect our environment and hold individuals and organisations to account for environmental breaches."

The expert panel will be led by Viviane Gravey, a senior lecturer in European politics at Queen's University Belfast.

The other two members are Diane Ruddock, who previously worked for the National Trust for 37 years, and John McCallister from the Ulster Farmers' Union (UFU).

Mr McCallister is a former member of the Northern Ireland Assembly who served as deputy leader of two different parties - the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and NI21.

He was first elected to Stormont for the UUP in 2007 but he quit in 2013 to set up a new party with fellow UUP defector Basil McCrea.

Mr McCallister currently works as a land mobility manager for the UFU.

Ms Ruddock recently received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) honour for services to the environment, heritage and the community.

She retired earlier this year from her role as external affairs manager for the National Trust in Northern Ireland.

DAERA Minster Andrew Muir wearing a blue suit and bow tie, John McCallister wearing a dark suit and light, open-neck shirt, Diane Ruddock wearing glasses and a monochrome tweed coat and Viviane Gravey wearing glasses, a long, brown coat and scarf. DAERA
Minster Andrew Muir posed with the panel members as he launched the review

Stormont already has the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), which was set up 16 years ago, but it is an agency of the devolved government.

For many years, environmental campaigners have been calling for a new, autonomous organisation that could independently hold polluters to account.

Mr Muir said the "many calls for a different environmental governance regime and indeed my own desire to see one, are absolutely no reflection of the dedication and commitment I see every day in the staff of NIEA".

"These are public servants who continue to work tirelessly to protect and enhance our natural environment, whilst regulating the activities that can adversely affect it."

The minister has tasked the panel with producing proposals to improve environmental governance, which "may include" a plan to set up an independent environmental protection agency.

That would mean they would also look into how such a body would be constituted and what its responsibilities should be.

The panel will take evidence from interested parties early next year and will use this to produce a report and recommendations for the minister by summer 2025.

The Department for the Environment, Agriculture and Rural Affairs (Daera) said any proposed changes will need to be agreed by ministers in the executive.