Flooding Lough Neagh to Address Blue-Green Algae?
Could flooding Lough Neagh, the largest inland lake in the UK, be a viable solution to the ecological crisis caused by blue-green algae? This question is explored in Jan Carson's new novel Few and Far Between. While the concept may seem unusual, it is rooted in historical attempts and proposals related to the lake.
In 1958, Terence O'Neill, then Northern Ireland's Finance Minister, proposed a plan to drain Lough Neagh to create a seventh county—County Neagh—with the aim of boosting employment. After becoming Northern Ireland's Prime Minister in 1963, O'Neill advanced this controversial scheme, though it ultimately did not succeed.
There had been earlier successful efforts to lower Lough Neagh's water level, which revealed some small islands as the water receded. This idea of uncovering submerged islands inspired Carson to imagine what life might have been like for inhabitants of these islands and to contemplate whether draining or flooding the lough could be a solution to the blue-green algae problem.
Carson, who grew up in Ballymena near Lough Neagh, was inspired to write the book after a friend sent her a newspaper clipping about the drainage scheme. She said she "very quickly went down a rabbit hole of could you drain Lough Neagh?" Investigating maps and topography, she concluded that draining the lake would be "impossible because of the way that the water flows as it would fill up again very quickly."
Her research uncovered previous drainage attempts and included conversations with people whose grandparents recalled small islands being exposed during water level drops.
"A lot of the book is sitting in that space which I like to call the end of the possible. It sounds utterly mad but actually quite a lot of this is based on things that are possible and within the bounds of reason," she said.
Plot and Setting of Few and Far Between
The novel follows RJ Connolly, an anthropologist who relocates with his wife and three children to a group of islands known as the Arc in the 1960s. The Arc serves as a sanctuary for those displaced during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, providing a refuge amid conflict.
The story incorporates elements of magical realism, with some islands having unique characteristics: one is inhabited by the "almost-deads," individuals clinging to life after serious accidents; another is a suicide island; one island is said to swallow secrets; and another is home to women in deep, unbreakable sleeps.
Jumping forward to 2016, the narrative depicts a fictional blue-green algae outbreak that parallels the current ecological crisis. Most island residents have left, except for RJ's adult children, Robert John and Marion, and their transgender neighbor Sandra. These characters face the prospect of leaving their isolated island life to return to the mainland.
Addressing Societal Themes
The novel also explores themes of toxic masculinity. Carson noted that while recent efforts have addressed this issue, they often focus on younger men. She chose to write about older men grappling with these challenges.
"I wanted to look at you know what happens if toxic masculinity goes unchecked through later life and you know Robert John's not an old man he's in his late 50s, early 60s, but he's never had anybody stop and say, 'hold on what do you actually think being a man is?', and he's really wrestling with that."
Marion, who works as a caretaker on the island, is portrayed as discovering her own identity after a lifetime of conforming to expectations.
Carson also introduces Sandra, an older transgender woman who has isolated herself on the island after feeling unsafe in the surrounding North Antrim towns near Lough Neagh.
"I've read almost nothing about older trans experience and I want it to do to explore that in a really gentle kind of way, here's a woman who has been removed from all of the furore about gender politics that have been going on in the last 10 years," Carson explained. "She moves to the islands when the word trans isn't really in the vocabulary for her and she's learning who she is and she's about to be thrust back into this maelstrom of some really hateful attitudes and also some big societal changes."
Raising Awareness of Lough Neagh's Plight
While Few and Far Between is a work of fiction, Carson hopes it will increase awareness of Lough Neagh's environmental challenges.
She observed that the lough does not receive the same attention as other Northern Ireland landscapes such as the North Coast or the Mourne Mountains.
"It isn't given the attention that something like the North Coast or the Mountains of Mourne are," she said. "It's a desperately inaccessible piece of landscape, there are whole sections of it you can't get to without clambering over muddy fields. Some of the inattention that we have to the lough and this particular crisis, I think it's because we have overlooked it as a resource."
Publication and Broadcast Details
Few and Far Between by Jan Carson is published by DoubleDay and is currently available. The novel will also be featured as BBC Radio 4's Book at Bedtime starting Monday, 13 April at 22:45 BST, narrated by Tara Lynne O'Neill.
