The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern Ireland

🎙️ Conversations beyond the headlines. • Campaigns, communities & environmental justice • Politics, planning & truth spoken to power • Long-form discussions with campaigners, experts & guests • Real stories from the frontlines of the fight to protect the Sperrins Top 25% global podcast | 10,000+ downloads ✊ https://dontmineus.com/the-sperrins-podcast/ Sign up to our newsletter here  h...

This week the inquiry moved deep into the economics, financial structures and long-term liabilities behind the Dalradian gold mine proposal. In this episode: • Missing feasibility studies and inaccessible economic models • Questions around Wheaton, royalties, offshore structures and profit flows • Claims about jobs, wages and local economic benefit challenged • DfI accused of failing to carry out...

Another extraordinary day at the public inquiry. Today’s episode covered some huge issues surrounding the proposed gold mine  from gold laundering risks and due diligence to explosives, policing costs and mine closure liabilities. Topics covered: Gold concentrate royalties and traceability The Galantas whistleblower case Shell companies and corporate structures NCA and OECD warnings on gold launde...

Conflict of interest raised involving DFI counsel and Landmark Chambers What Landmark Chambers actually are — and why that matters Inside the £75 million deal between Dalradian and Wheaton How Dalradian may now effectively be a shell company The reality of gold being sold at just 18% of market value Missing details: where is the gold actually being processed? Unanswered questions around £620,000 b...

What are you supposed to do when you’re asked to trust a process… but deep down you believe that process is fundamentally flawed? This episode comes straight from Day 4 of the Socio-Economic section of the Public Inquiry into the proposed gold mine in the Sperrins. I left the Inquiry tired, frustrated, and questioning everything—then went for a walk on the mountain, one of the very places under th...

A step back as hearings pause and the Inquiry prepares to resume Where things stand: slow progress and key questions still unanswered Ongoing concerns around the economic case, missing information, and environmental gaps What to watch as proceedings get back underway A reflection on the past week and the strength of community support Why family, presence, and shared values continue to carry this c...

🔍 Key Issues This Week: ❗ No current feasibility study underpinning the project 📊 Economic case based on unseen data and a “spreadsheet” not available to the public 💰 Gold valuation claims not adding up — major gaps between industry norms and projections 🏛️ Department for Infrastructure under pressure over process, preparedness, and oversight ⚖️ Public inquiry fairness questioned — limited tim...

Shakespeare meets the Public Inquiry “All the world’s a stage”… and today, the barristers played their part Timetable chaos as the inquiry struggles to keep pace New information admitted—without time to review or respond Economic model under scrutiny: based on unseen data Gold… or gold concentrate? The numbers start to unravel Growing concerns over fairness, transparency, and process Third parties...

Focus on economic modelling behind the Dalradian application Serious questions raised about overly optimistic projections Concerns around lack of real-world grounding and evidence Independent expert Mr Burgess (FODC) casts doubt on financial claims Key issue: Who actually benefits from the profits? Gold value driving projections — but wealth largely leaves the local area Community impact questione...

Key questions raised by Mary Brolly at the public inquiry Is the Dalradian Gold application fully grounded in the documents before the Commission? Can the process withstand robust scrutiny? Concerns highlighted: Gaps in transboundary consultation Absence of a Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) What this means for transparency, accountability, and public trust Sign up to our newsletter here  htt...

End of Week 1 at the not-so-public Public Inquiry Key issues emerging: Cyanide  not gone, just repositioned? Missing environmental assessments Late submissions & document overload Ongoing concerns around fairness and access A process that feels complex, contested… and far from clear Community voice strong but under pressure Big questions still unanswered Sign up to our newsletter here  https:/...

Day 3 of the Public Inquiry — and the process is starting to reveal itself Questions drip-fed throughout the day, with departments (DFI / DOE) under scrutiny Ongoing issue: unauthorised infill and potential failure to comply with planning conditions Key concern: development may have bypassed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Cyanide resurfaces — despite assumptions it was gone Proposed conditi...

  🎙️ Public Inquiry Podcast – Day 2 ⚖️ NIEA late evidence accepted by the PAC 🗂️ Decision based on SOC + rebuttals, not new material ⏱️ Ongoing concerns around time + fairness 📊 Key details still unclear across the project ☣️ Cyanide question not going away Sign up to our newsletter here  https://dontmineus.com/newslatter/ 👉 Daily updates from inside the inquiry 📢 Follow & share to stay inf...

In this episode: ⚖️ Legal challenges over fairness + admissibility of new evidence 📂 95 new documents dropped late – not enough time to respond? 🌍 Questions over cross-border consultation failures 🌱 Environmental assessment delays – could be “bolted on” later ⛏️ Confusion over what’s actually being mined 📉 Gaps in the economic case + project clarity 🏠 Concerns mining could extend under homes...

In this solo episode of the Save Our Sperrins Podcast, Save Our Sperrins responds to the latest marketing campaign released by Dalradian Gold, offering a calm and forensic examination of the claims being made about jobs, prosperity, and regional regeneration. Set against rising living costs, pressure on public services, and growing climate instability, this episode explores how extractive industri...

The public inquiry into gold mining in the Sperrins is about to begin  and this podcast is entering a new phase. After 40 episodes building the story, trust, and understanding behind the campaign, we’re now moving into real-time coverage of what happens next. From here on, expect short, regular updates from the inquiry: What happened What it means What to watch next Follow the podcast to stay info...

In this episode, I sit down with disability rights advocate, TEDx speaker, and campaigner Dermot Devlin to explore what it means to be heard in systems that aren’t always designed to listen. Originally from Greencastle, Dermot brings a powerful mix of lived experience, sharp insight, and every day honesty  working across grassroots activism, practical change, and policy influence. This conversatio...

What does public participation actually mean when major environmental decisions are being made? In this episode I’m joined by Laura Neale,  a senior  lawyer with Friends of the Earth . She is based in the organisation’s Belfast office and works on strategic litigation relevant to the issues that affect Northern Ireland. She is passionate about working alongside communities in the region to protect...

What if the land we call empty is anything but? In this episode, artist Emily McFarland brings the bog into focus, as a living archive of memory, water and deep time. Why peatlands are far more than “marginal land” The bog as witness  holding carbon, history and story How art can challenge the language of progress and development What gets lost when landscapes are reduced to resource A different w...

Ann-Louise Bresnahan of Save The Moat – Save The Sperrins joins me to talk about the proposed industrial-scale wind development on the Moat, part of the Mullaghs in the central Sperrins ,  an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty now facing major upland industrialisation. What begins as a conversation about turbines opens out into something much wider. We discuss peatlands and carbon capture, water,...

In this episode, I speak with Nuskmata , Jacinda Mack  Indigenous land defender from the Nlaka’pamux and Secwépemc peoples, and a long-standing advocate for reform in the global mining industry. We return to the 2014 Mount Polley mine disaster, when a tailings dam collapsed into the Fraser River watershed. More than a decade on, the consequences are still unfolding. Communities lost food sources t...

In this episode, I speak with Gerard Moyne and Sean Gallagher, residents of Donegal living downstream from the proposed Dalradian gold mine in the Sperrins. Our conversation centres on the transboundary issues that led to the suspension of the recent Public Inquiry  and what that moment reveals about fairness, participation and environmental governance. We explore the principles behind the Aarhus...

In this episode, we sit down with Dr.  Alessandra Accogli and Elena Aitova  post graduate researcher to talk about peatlands, carbon, and the role of evidence in the public inquiry process. Between them, they’ve contributed legal analysis and scientific work to submissions examining how peatlands are treated within planning decisions, and how those decisions line up with climate commitments. Elena...

In this episode, I speak with Pat  and Nuala Gheoghegan, who share the story of their lives, their farm, and their community. They talk about what it meant to live just five miles from the Aughinish Alumina Refinery, and how its presence shaped everyday life over many years. The conversation moves through memory, place, and experience, and was recorded in more than one setting, with others present...

This episode sits at the start of a series of conversations about water in the Sperrins  where it comes from, how it moves, and what happens when it’s put at risk. Cahal’s family has lived for generations in and around Greencastle. He farms part-time, runs a plumbing business, and knows the land . He speaks about water, ground, and responsibility in the way people do when they’ve spent their lives...