Global gold supply means Sperrins mine ‘not needed’, inquiry hears The inquiry heard challenges to the economic case for Dalradian’s project

Latest from the Omagh goldmine inquiry as council barrister says there’s no need for the project, citing 2025 supply and demand data from the World Gold Council.
I’ll be reporting for @thedetailtv.bsky.social again this week
thedetail.tv/articles/glo...

Global gold supply means Sperrins mine ‘not needed’, inquiry hears The inquiry heard challenges to the economic case for Dalradian’s project

Analysis of global gold supply and demand was used to challenge the economic case for Dalradian’s Sperrins project, an inquiry has heard

@shaunacorr.bsky.social reports from the second week of the reconvened public inquiry

Closed doors and open questions: inside week one of the Sperrins mine inquiry A long-running battle over a controversial gold project reached a pivotal public inquiry stage this week

Closed doors and open questions: inside week one of the Sperrins mine inquiry
Here's my wrap of week one of the Omagh goldmine inquiry as week two set to commence at Strule Arts Centre this morning.
I'll be reporting for @thedetailtv.bsky.social again this week
open.substack.com/pub/thedetai...

Dalradian operated in planning breach for years at ‘temporary’ Tyrone site, inquiry hears Dalradian applied in 2017 to mine gold and other precious metals in the Sperrin Mountains

My report on day 3 of the Omagh goldmine inquiry with @thedetailtv.bsky.social
🚩Dalradian in ‘breach’ of planning at temporary site for years
🚩PAC told it must consider if mining firm given ‘unfair advantage’
🚩Cyanide condition proposed by DfI sparks ‘suspicion’
thedetail.tv/articles/dal...

Dalradian operated in planning breach for years at ‘temporary’ Tyrone site, inquiry hears Dalradian applied in 2017 to mine gold and other precious metals in the Sperrin Mountains

A US-backed company seeking to mine gold in the Sperrin Mountains operated “in breach of planning control” for years over a “temporary” exploratory site it failed to restore, a public inquiry heard on Wednesday.

@shaunacorr.bsky.social reports

Sand dredging is associated with benthic habitat alteration and chronic turbidity with profound ecological consequences likely for the UK and Ireland's largest freshwater lake Sand and gravel extraction from aquatic ecosystems is a known driver of freshwater habitat degradation, sediment disturbance, and turbidity. Lough Nea…

🚨NEW: Sand dredging on Lough Neagh linked to "substantial geomorphological disturbance.. widespread hydrodynamic disturbance".
New modelling found potential implications for
❗️ toxic algae blooms
❗️ biodiversity
❗️water clarity
bit.ly/4mvK8UX

Thank you Elaine. I really appreciate that

Cyanide still referenced in Dalradian Gold’s Sperrins mine application The bid to mine in the Sperrin Mountains received 50,000 objections to the project

Cyanide is still referenced in Dalradian Gold’s application to mine in the Sperrins, despite previous assurances.

The govt rep said they took the company's claims "at face value".

@shaunacorr.bsky.social reports from the public inquiry into the most opposed planning application in NI history

Cyanide still referenced in Dalradian Gold’s Sperrins mine application The bid to mine in the Sperrin Mountains received 50,000 objections to the project

Latest from the Omagh goldmine inquiry - cyanide still referenced in the planning application.
I'll be writing on the issue for investigative and long-form journalism outlet @thedetailtv.bsky.social this week.
Read all about the proceedings here..
www.thedetail.tv/articles/cya...

Luckily no John 😂
On the flat

Delighted to be invited to guest lecture @ucddublin.bsky.social this morning about getting the attention of society and the media on social justice/public interest issues.
It was fun!

👇

Reconvened inquiry into Sperrin Mountains gold-mining plan looks to decide 17-year battle Dalradian Gold wants to mine minerals worth an estimated €30bn in Co Tyrone area of natural beauty

....while @shaunacorr.bsky.social previews the upcoming public hearing on the controversial gold mining proposed for the Sperrin Mountains.....
www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

"A prolonged battle that will define the future of mining in Northern Ireland..."

Before the inquiry into plans to mine for gold in the Sperrins returns on 13 April, @shaunacorr.bsky.social outlines why this is one of the island's most contentious planning cases.

More in today's @irishtimes.com:

Reconvened inquiry into Sperrin Mountains gold-mining plan looks to decide 17-year battle Dalradian Gold wants to mine minerals worth an estimated €30bn in Co Tyrone area of natural beauty

My first outing with the @irishtimes.com looking at how the reconvened inquiry into Sperrin Mountains gold-mining proposal looks to decide 17-year battle.
It also got a mention in today’s podcast 👇
www.irishtimes.com/environment/...

New Northern Ireland Wildfires Action Plan includes expert-led project probing causes and spread modelling in areas like the Mournes 2025 may have been a record year for wildfires in NI - now DAERA hopes to tackle their spread through prevention, preparedness, response, recovery and enforcement

A new Wildfires Action Plan has been launched for Northern Ireland after what appeared to be a record year for the largely ‘manmade’ disasters in 2025.
Read all about it here 👇
open.substack.com/pub/theearth...

Clear evidence climate crisis 'causing significant damage' in Ireland, says expert advisory council Communities, essential services and the economy face growing risks because of more frequent and intense climate related weather extremes - but “Ireland remains underprepared"

Every time I sit in front of a laptop to write a piece like this, it feels like groundhog day.
Politicians have long known the dangers and solutions to climate crisis - yet they seem somehow paralysed against real delivery.
I've long been asking why?
open.substack.com/pub/theearth...

Our fossil fuel economy is a house of cards and Trump's war in Iran is about to topple it. The need for a clean energy transition has never been clearer. Trump's war in Iran is the embodiment of everything that's wrong with our dependence on fossil fuels — and it's highlighting just how vital the transition to renewables is.

"Our fossil fuel economy is a house of cards and Trump's war in Iran is about to topple it. The need for a clean energy transition has never been clearer" | My new commentary for @livescience.com:
www.livescience.com/planet-earth...

'Disappointment' as Economy Minister drops out of major NI renewables conference on same day Dr Caoimhe Archibald was scheduled to the give the closing statement at the event which attracted hundreds of renewables experts working on alternatives to oil fuel price shocks

There was a major renewables conf in Belfast yesterday with hundreds of experts.
They have solutions to OIL hikes - but offshore wind first mooted for NI in 2022 might not be built by 2036.
DfE Minister meant to go - but dropped out 👇
#RNISmartEnergy
theearthscorr.substack.com/publish/post...

‘Imposter syndrome’ is felt by a lot of women in the renewables sector BPP principal sustainability engineer, Aine Murray tells the #RNISmartEnergy conference in Belfast. She says more women are needed in the industry #womeninrenewables

'No stone should be left unturned' in important case of Lough Neagh eel fisherman, says judge So many supporters turned up at Belfast High Court a bigger room had to be found

So many turned up at the High Court in support of Lough Neagh eel fisher Mr Conlon, a bigger room had to be found. Read all about what happened as a the Moortown man launched a legal challenge against DAERA in a new 'David vs Goliath' case here...
theearthscorr.substack.com/p/no-stone-s...

Lough Neagh eel fisherman launches High Court challenge over pollution Declan Conlon's family fished the lough for generations before his "way of life was destroyed by blue-green algae"

A Lough Neagh eel fisherman who says his “way of life has been destroyed by the blue-green algae” is hoping to take a government department to court over the pollution that caused it.

open.substack.com/pub/theearth...

OPINION: War triggered fuel price hikes are not new. Nor is Stormont's failure to protect us The Programme for Government 2024-27 promised home retrofits to address fuel poverty - measures were taken in just 0.31% of NI homes in 2023/24 and there was budget left over

The Programme for Government 2024-27 promised home retrofits to address Northern Ireland fuel poverty - measures were taken in just 0.31% of NI homes in 2023/24 and there was budget left over
theearthscorr.substack.com/p/opinion-wa...

Principles for a post-growth scenario of ambitious mitigation and high human well-being - Nature Climate Change Post-growth scholarship seeks to address the limitations of growth-oriented mitigation scenarios by exploring the potential of profound socio-economic transformations. This Perspective synthesizes cor...

Principles for a post-growth scenario of ambitious mitigation and high human well-being:

1. well-being,
2. sufficiency,
3. reduced inequalities,
4. repurposing of the economy,
5. north–south convergence.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

‘Drinking from a fetid pond’: superbug-creating genes found in UK’s largest lake Exclusive: Lough Neagh, which supplies drinking water for 40% of NI, contains genes resistant to last-resort antibiotics

Superbugs resistant to antibiotics are rising fast. I tested water at Lough Neagh (40% of Northern Ireland’s drinking water) & found high levels of antibiotic-resistant genes from human & livestock poo. If we treat waterways like sewers, this is what we get. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

If MLAs are getting a 27% pay rise after a board they set up to ensure their salaries are comparable to Westminster, the Dail, Scotland and Wales… will they be ensuring pay parity for every NI worker?
🚩 Average earnings here worse than in most of the rest of these islands

Northern Ireland Assembly 'strongly condemns' DUP blocking environmental protection agency and will ask Secretary of State to help "An independent environmental protection agency will not clean up Lough Neagh or improve the quality of one drop of water" says the DUP's Michelle McIlveen

"An independent environmental protection agency will not clean up Lough Neagh or improve the quality of one drop of water" says the DUP's Michelle McIlveen. Do you agree?
open.substack.com/pub/theearth...

Ireland's national trust takes legal action over latest government plan to cut agricultural water pollution It comes after the EU green lit Ireland's push for some farms to continue spreading more slurry on the land than anywhere else in Europe, despite declining water quality

Ireland's national trust takes legal action over latest government plan to cut agricultural water pollution #nitrates #bluegreenalgae #AnTaisce 🦠
@antaisce.bsky.social @swanireland.ie @foeireland.bsky.social @nhna.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/theearth...

EXCLUSIVE: Environmental Protection Agency row escalates Alliance Party wants the Secretary of State to intervene and is bringing a motion to Stormont asking MLAs to 'condemn' DUP's 'undemocratic' blocking of an IEPA

A motion is going before the NI Assembly this week asking members to “condemn” DUP blocking of an independent environmental protection agency and involve Secretary of State for NI Hilary Benn from
@eointennyson.bsky.social & John Blair
open.substack.com/pub/theearth...

Goldmine inquiry: Commission outlines timetable for topics on Dalradian Gold's Curraghinalt planning application A public inquiry into an application to mine gold and other metals in the Sperrins Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty restarts in April with dates outlined for the months ahead

Dalradian Gold mining application public inquiry timetable outlined - including dates and topics for each day.
It's all here 👇
open.substack.com/pub/theearth...