A prolonged battle that will define the future of mining in Northern Ireland is set to resume after the third, and hopefully final, reconvening of a long-awaited public inquiry.
The lines were first drawn in 2009 when Dalradian Gold arrived from Canada in search of precious metals in the Sperrin Mountains.
Spanning 100,000 hectares across Derry and Tyrone, the designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) runs from Strule Valley to the edge of Lough Neagh’s lowlands.
Dalradian Gold wants to mine minerals worth an estimated £26 billion (€30 billion) in these lands, with a small percentage of their value paid to the UK Crown Estate.
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But its 2017 application for an underground mine near Greencastle, Co Tyrone, drew more than 50,000 objections, making it one of the most contentious planning cases considered on the island of Ireland.
Opponents say their aim is simple: to protect their town lands for future generations.
They argue the Sperrins, designated an AONB in 1968 for their ecological value and beauty, are no place for an industrial site.
Campaign group, Save Our Sperrins (SOS), formed to peacefully resist the mine, fears dust from the operation could pollute the air. A primary school and GAA ground lie within a kilometre of the proposed mine.
But concerns extend beyond air quality. Locals worry about landslides, water pollution, large-scale water abstraction, high electricity demand and increased lorry traffic on narrow rural roads.
Dalradian, now owned by US-based Orion Resource Partners, says it has invested around €346 million to develop what it describes as an environmentally responsible mine.
It argues the project could create 350 direct jobs, with additional employment downstream, and that deposits of gold, silver, copper and other critical minerals could support the UK industrial strategy and wider all-island economy.
The proposed mine lies close to the Owenkillew and Owenreagh rivers, habitats for protected species including Atlantic salmon and freshwater pearl mussels.
In January 2022, a Stormont committee heard that Dalradian had six pollution incidents during the prospecting phase – one classed as “medium”, resulting in a warning and costs, and five as “low”.
The company maintains it has “an excellent environmental record” and says there have been “no breaches of water discharge consents or abstraction licences”. Still, critics argue that any pollution before mining has even begun is cause for concern.
One of SOS’s initial objections to the project centred on the proposed use of cyanide in gold extraction. Dalradian removed the option in 2019, but opposition has not waned.
Campaigners have taken their message from the Crown Estate offices in London to a mining conference in Toronto, to Stormont and even to the Police Service of Northern Ireland headquarters after a report suggested those against the mine were being unfairly policed.
They have hosted international mining experts, indigenous groups with experience of mining disasters and UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor, who said she was in “complete awe” of their resilience in protecting the land.
Support has also come from more unexpected quarters. Actor Kevin McAleer – known to many as Uncle Colm from Derry Girls – held a fundraiser, while Canadian artist John G. Boehme staged a symbolic “dirty protest” at the site.
For nearly 3,000 days, campaigners have also kept vigil at a caravan dubbed the Greencastle People’s Office – or GPO – in protest.
Dalradian, meanwhile, has attracted backing from four United States congressmen concerned about delays to the project, as well as disgraced former UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, who also intervened with a letter to the Executive.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson has described the delays as a “total disgrace”.
With a quarter of Northern Ireland now opened up to prospectors, the outcome of this case will be significant.
The inquiry was suspended after two false starts due to issues that included a failure to notify the Irish Government about cross-Border issues.
Starting on April 13th at Strule Arts Centre, Omagh, the Planning Appeals Commission and Water Appeals Commission will hear from witnesses, including international experts.
Ultimately, they will make a recommendation to the Infrastructure Minister, who will deliver a final verdict on the planning application.
After 17 years and a series of embarrassing official blunders, every party involved deserves a definitive and watertight end to this saga.
Shauna Corr is an investigative journalist, UCD Earth Institute journalist in residence and environmental commentator
