Northern Ireland’s rivers, loughs and marine areas should be a source of pride, supporting biodiversity, recreation and sustainable livelihoods. Instead, they tell a different story. Rivers remain polluted, loughs are choked by nutrient overload, and marine ecosystems are under increasing pressure.
This decline did not happen overnight. Nor did it happen without warning. Which raises an unavoidable question: what was done when there was still time to act?
John Blair, now an MLA who presents himself as a champion of environmental protection, previously worked within DAERA’s Marine and Fisheries Division, the very division tasked with protecting Northern Ireland’s marine environment while ensuring the sustainable use of resources for current and future generations. He also served as a councillor on Antrim Borough Council, giving him insight into environmental governance at both departmental and local levels.
That experience brings with it responsibility and scrutiny. Those who worked within the system cannot credibly claim ignorance of the problems. Environmental reports, monitoring data, and concerns raised by local communities repeatedly highlighted declining water quality and growing ecological stress across rivers, loughs, and coastal waters. DAERA had both the information and the authority to intervene, yet the damage continued.
So the questions must be asked plainly:
What specific measures did John Blair advocate for or implement while working in the Marine and Fisheries Division to halt environmental decline?
Did he use his position to challenge unsustainable practices or strengthen enforcement?
Or did systemic failure continue unchallenged during his tenure?
If decisive action was taken, the public deserves to know what it was. If it was not, then the reasons for that inaction matter.
Today, Blair positions himself as a defender of the environment. Yet contrasts between past actions and current messaging raise further questions.
He has placed significant emphasis on banning hunting in Northern Ireland, despite assuring the country sports community in 2019, at the launch of the Game Fair, that “country sports has a friend in me.” At the same time, he actively courts the angling community, building influence among recreational fishers who depend directly on healthy rivers and marine environments.
This invites scepticism. Is John Blair genuinely advancing the interests of anglers, or is he misleading that community, particularly as his party colleague Andrew Muir presides over the ongoing decline of the public angling estate? Is this selective engagement driven by genuine environmental concern, or by political calculation?
Perhaps the most telling issue of all is this: if John Blair understands the inner workings of DAERA from his time within the department, why has he not used that knowledge to expose failures, challenge entrenched practices, or push for meaningful systemic reform?
Did he ever raise concerns internally?
Did he ever blow the whistle on shortcomings he witnessed as a civil servant or councillor?
If not, why not and what does that say about the leadership he now claims to offer?
Legacies are not built on words alone; they are shaped by decisions made when responsibility rests squarely on one’s shoulders. Today’s pledges cannot erase years of delayed or insufficient intervention.
John Blair’s time in DAERA, particularly within a division charged with safeguarding marine ecosystems, is part of the public record. If he did not act decisively when environmental damage was mounting, it is reasonable to question whether his current commitments represent genuine leadership or political repositioning.
Is his focus on hunting, alongside careful cultivation of the angling community, a substitute for addressing deeper structural failures in how Northern Ireland manages its waters?
Northern Ireland’s inland and marine waters are more than a policy challenge. They are a measure of political will, integrity and accountability. For those who claim environmental leadership today, past actions matter. And unanswered questions about those actions will continue to shape public trust long after press releases and campaign slogans fade.
Can John Blair reconcile his current environmental messaging with his record in DAERA and local government? Or will the public conclude that this is a story of missed opportunity, repackaged as leadership?
Most importantly, will he now use the knowledge he gained inside the system to drive real change, expose wrongdoing, and prevent further environmental collapse, or remain focused on symbolic gestures while the system he once worked within continues to fail?