Protesters vow to “lay on the road” to stop gold mine in the Sprin Mountains, County Tyrone | Climate News

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The Save our Sperrins group has set up camp in two caravans to stop development by Canada’s Dalradian company.

By David Blevins, Senior Irish Correspondent @skydavidblevins

Saturday, June 3, 2023 00:51, United Kingdom

Protesters against a gold mine in County Tyrone’s Sprin Mountains have vowed to “lay down the road” to stop the machines if they arrive.

They set up camp in two caravans and their campaign has become a catalyst for those calling for tougher environmental laws in Northern Ireland.

Fidelma O’Kane, of the group Save our Sperrins, claimed that the mining company applied to remove “two and a half million gallons of water” from the peatlands per day.

“The peatland is a major store of carbon but on top of that, if they are allowed to extract water from the peatlands that are here, it will destroy aquifers, rivers, streams, etc,” she said.

Photo: Keeping our Sperrins at the proposed gold mine site

But Dalradian, the Canadian company that has been researching the site for more than a decade, said it has spent millions of pounds protecting the environment.

Peter McKenna, director of community relations at Dalradian, said: “You can go and talk to any climate scientist in the world and I think they all agree on one thing, which is that we need to either reduce or perhaps eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels.

“We can only do that with a massive increase in renewables, and if we’re going to buy those installations and build the infrastructure to get that energy to the point of use, we’re going to need a huge new source pool of minerals and metals.

Wild West of Europe

Last year, Northern Ireland and the Republic industry body included it in a list of the world’s top 10 attractions for mining companies.

The island has been described as the “Wild West of Europe” for environmental regulation, with 25% of land in Northern Ireland and 27% in the Republic licensed for mining, compared to 0.2% in England.

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Image: 25% of land in Northern Ireland and 27% in the Republic of Ireland is licensed for mining

Trumpian environmental politics

Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland director James Orr said the push to invest since the Troubles ended has taken priority over the environment.

“For many people within the institution … they consider Northern Ireland open for business now, and that’s the language they use,” he said.

“It’s as if we had Trumpian economic policies in terms of environmental deregulation, many years before people knew what Donald Trump was about.”

Photo: Sprin Mountains, County Tyrone

It’s a battle raging across the Atlantic, with activists from Standing Rock, North Dakota, visiting the Sprin family to show solidarity.

The gold mine planning application is now the subject of public investigation.

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