Stout hearts are needed at the Northern Ireland Tourist Board. And they keep the flag flying. If anyone on the southern side of the Border would like to help the people through current spasms, a weekend or more spent up there would be appreciated on all sides. Just as a friendly gesture. The Northern Board recently, ran a two page spread in colour in the Sunday Tribune on the attractions of Lough Neagh, with fetching photos and some intriguing information. Lough Neagh Lodge, for example, a restaurant on the shores, has a bill of fare which includes pan fried eels and grilled pollan.
Now pollan, there is an interesting fish. Unique because, apart from four Irish lakes, it is found nowhere else on the Continent, according to an article in Sherkin Coment by Declan Quigley of the ESB Fisheries Conservation, Ardnacrusha. He tells us that it is a land locked species of Coregonid or "White Fish". Some people may be surprised to know that it is present not only in Loughs Neagh and Lower Lough Erne, but also in Ree and Derg.
To people around Lough Neagh it is more simply a freshwater herring, and used to be freely available in Belfast in the shops, while women with big baskets would come door to door selling the fish. Declan Quigley says he has eaten a "white fish", one of the coregonids, in Switzerland and it was delicious. He has heard, by the way, of an Irish fish dealer who has sold perch to Switzerland for their famous filet de perche dish, which he had imported from Lithuania.
But it's not all fish in the North. There is a cruiser which runs scenic trips around the Lough in summer: The Maid of Antrim, which has undercover lounges, open sun decks, snack bar and fully licensed bar.
This advertisement features Lough Neagh and surroundings, but there is so much packed into those six counties. The most magnificent coast along the North. Postcard from a friend: "I know now why you've been telling me to go to north Antrim. It's all you say. And the Mournes. And Derry and, well, every single county. On the subject of eels: a friend in Paris tells anyone who promises to bring him smoked salmon from Dublin, that thanks, he would rather have smoked eel."
PS: Northern Ireland Tourist Board says pollan is plentiful in the lake, fished all year round; not much in fishmongers but can be bought at source. Mostly exported to mainland Europe.