A protracted conflict over the future of mining in Northern Ireland is poised to restart with the third reconvening of a long-delayed public inquiry.
The dispute began in 2009 when Canadian firm Dalradian Gold arrived to prospect for precious metals in the Sperrin Mountains.
The Sperrins stretch across 100,000 hectares of Derry and Tyrone, from Strule Valley to the fringes of Lough Neagh. Designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1968, the region is prized for its ecological significance and landscape.
Dalradian estimates the mineral deposits are worth £26 billion (€30 billion), with a fraction of that value owed to the UK Crown Estate.
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When Dalradian filed its 2017 application for an underground mine near Greencastle, Co Tyrone, it triggered more than 50,000 objections—one of the most contested planning cases in Irish history.
Local opponents say their goal is straightforward: safeguard their land for future generations.
They contend the Sperrins are unsuitable for industrial development of this scale.
Save Our Sperrins, a campaign group formed to resist the project, fears airborne dust from mining operations could contaminate the area. A primary school and GAA pitch sit less than a kilometre from the proposed site.
Air quality is not the only concern. Residents cite risks including landslides, water contamination, large-scale water extraction, high energy consumption and increased heavy goods traffic on narrow country roads.
Dalradian, now owned by US-based Orion Resource Partners, says it has invested approximately €346 million in developing what it calls an environmentally responsible operation.
The company projects 350 direct jobs, with further employment in related sectors, and argues that gold, silver, copper and other critical minerals could bolster UK industrial strategy and the all-island economy.
The site sits near the Owenkillew and Owenreagh rivers, home to protected species including Atlantic salmon and freshwater pearl mussels.
In January 2022, a Stormont committee was told Dalradian had six pollution incidents during prospecting—one classified as "medium" that resulted in a warning and costs, and five as "low".
The company insists it maintains "an excellent environmental record" and states there have been "no breaches of water discharge consents or abstraction licences". Critics counter that any pollution before mining begins raises serious questions.
Save Our Sperrins initially objected to the proposed use of cyanide in gold extraction. Dalradian dropped that method in 2019, but opposition remains fierce.
Campaigners have brought their case to the Crown Estate offices in London, a mining conference in Toronto, Stormont and the Police Service of Northern Ireland headquarters following a report that suggested anti-mine activists were being disproportionately policed.
They have welcomed international mining experts, indigenous groups with direct experience of mining disasters and UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor, who praised their determination to protect the land.
Support has emerged from unlikely sources. Actor Kevin McAleer—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, activists have maintained a vigil at a caravan known as the Greencastle People's Office—or GPO—in ongoing protest.
Dalradian has secured backing from four US congressmen concerned about project delays, as well as disgraced former UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, who wrote to the Executive on the company's behalf.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson has called the delays a "total disgrace".
With a quarter of Northern Ireland now licensed for prospecting, the outcome will set a critical precedent.
The inquiry was suspended twice due to procedural failures, including the omission of required notification to the Irish Government on cross-Border environmental impacts.
Beginning April 13th at Strule Arts Centre in Omagh, the Planning Appeals Commission and Water Appeals Commission will hear evidence from witnesses, including international experts.
They will then make a recommendation to the Infrastructure Minister, who holds final authority over the planning application.
After 17 years and a series of administrative failures, all parties deserve a conclusive and legally sound resolution.
Shauna Corr is an investigative journalist, UCD Earth Institute journalist in residence and environmental commentator
