The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern Ireland

🎙️ Day 40 of the Curraghinalt Public Inquiry — and today it was all about water.
Private wells predicted to go dry, nitrate pollution lasting decades, questions over post-closure monitoring, and two groundwater monitoring points — GW05 and GW06 — that simply refuse to go away.
And through it all, the Commissioner kept asking some very straightforward questions, including one that may sum up the day:
“Should that not have been ironed out already?”
🎧 Listen to today’s podcast and please share it.
If you value thoughtful, commentary on the Inquiry, please consider following the podcast, sharing this episode, and joining our campaign mailing list to stay connected. https://dontmineus.com/newsletter/
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
 

Today at the Curraghinalt Public Inquiry, NIEA withdrew the draft discharge parameters it had previously supplied after identifying problems with inputs to the modelling.
What followed was an extraordinary exchange, culminating in Commissioner McParland asking:
“Is the application ready for inquiry then?”
We follow what happened in the room, the very different responses from NIEA, the Loughs Agency and other parties, and the growing questions about scrutiny, accountability and the protection of our environment.
🎧 Listen now and share the podcast. These proceedings matter  and the public needs to know what is happening inside that Inquiry room.
If you value thoughtful, commentary on the Inquiry, please consider following the podcast, sharing this episode, and joining our campaign mailing list to stay connected. https://dontmineus.com/newsletter/
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
 

Today at the Curraghinalt Public Inquiry, some very complicated water evidence came down to some surprisingly simple questions.
How much water does the mine need? Where are the figures? Has evaporation been properly accounted for? Why were five burns specifically assessed when the Commissioner could count eleven? And why has NIEA calculated zero acceptable discharge for some parameters?
🎧 Listen to today’s report from the Inquiry and please share it with anyone following what’s happening in the Sperrins.
If you value thoughtful, commentary on the Inquiry, please consider following the podcast, sharing this episode, and joining our campaign mailing list to stay connected. https://dontmineus.com/newsletter/
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins

After a week of landscape evidence at the Public Inquiry, Dr Amy Strecker takes a step back from the detail to reflect on what we have actually heard — and what it means for the Sperrins.
From designation and visual impact to the uncomfortable question at the heart of it all: should protecting a landscape really come down to finding better ways to hide an enormous industrial development within it?
🎧 Listen, share and help us keep the Sperrins in the conversation.

Today the Curraghinalt Public Inquiry moved on to water. We hear the powerful responses from the Loughs Agency and NIEA on Atlantic salmon, freshwater pearl mussels, altered flows, water quality and the protected river system downstream—as well as a tense morning of conflicts of interest and questions over who was allowed to speak.
Please listen, share widely and help ensure that the communities who will live with the consequences are heard.
As always, this podcast is intended to help people understand what happened at the Inquiry by bringing together the week's evidence in plain English.
If you find these updates useful, please consider joining the Sperrins community  campaign newsletter.
https://dontmineus.com/newsletter/
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins

The final day of Landscape Designation and Methodology at the Curraghinalt Public Inquiry with night-time lighting, visualisations, cumulative impacts and proposed conditions under scrutiny.
Dr Amy Strecker joins me at the end of the podcast to give her overview of the four days of landscape evidence and what it could mean for the future of the Sperrins.
🎧 Listen, share and help more people understand what is being discussed at this Public Inquiry.
If you value thoughtful, commentary on the Inquiry, please consider following the podcast, sharing this episode, and joining our campaign mailing list to stay connected. https://dontmineus.com/newsletter/
Here is a link to Dr. Streckers earlier podcast 
 
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Today at the Curraghinalt Public Inquiry: landscape value, ten-year-old visualisations, the proposed powerline — and even a little Father Ted.
I’m also joined by James Orr  Director of Friends of the Earth, a former planner, to look at a more fundamental question: how reliable is the landscape baseline being used to assess this development?
🎧 Listen, share and help more people follow what is actually emerging from the Inquiry.
Listen to James earlier podcast # 18
https://friendsoftheearth.uk/northern-ireland 
As always, this podcast is intended to help people understand what happened at the public  Inquiry by bringing together the week's evidence in plain English.
If you find these updates useful, please consider joining the Sperrins community  campaign newsletter.
https://dontmineus.com/newsletter/
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
 
 
 

What does “landscape” really mean when assessing the proposed Curraghinalt gold mine?
In this Public Inquiry update, Professor Amy Strecker reflects on the Mine Waste Facility, restoration plans, visualisations and the wider industrialisation of the Sperrins, while we also touch on the proposed electricity connection and the cumulative impact on the AONB.
Listen, follow the podcast and please share this episode — particularly with those living in and around the Sperrins.
Link to 
#14 Law ,Land and Justice Dr Amy Strecker on the Sperrins 
Law, Land and Justice
If you value thoughtful, commentary on the Inquiry, please consider following the podcast, sharing this episode, and joining our campaign mailing list to stay connected. https://dontmineus.com/newsletter/
 
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What does “Acceptable” really mean when important engineering questions are still waiting to be answered?
Dr Steven Emerman returns to the podcast for a third time to examine the Golder review of the Curraghinalt Gold Mine Waste Management Plan. We look beyond the headline 108 “Acceptable” ratings and discuss mine-waste stability, liquefaction, earthquakes, groundwater, filtered tailings, closure, financial guarantees and the work Golder says should be addressed at later stages of design.
Ultimately, who receives the benefits  and who is left carrying the risk?
Link to the Report : https://dontmineus.com/resources/
It may take a day or two for the report to be available 
Listen, share the podcast and help more people understand the evidence being considered at the Curraghinalt Public Inquiry.
if you value thoughtful, commentary on the Inquiry, please consider following the podcast, sharing this episode, and joining our campaign mailing list to stay connected. https://dontmineus.com/newsletter/
 
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
 
 
 

Today's Curraghinalt Public Inquiry turned to restoration and visual impact — what the proposed dry-stack mine-waste facility might eventually look like and whether the landscape shown in the visualisations can actually be delivered.
Questions about grass and heather soon led to soil and peat storage, missing elements from the visualisations, the sequencing of the mine-waste cells and how closely restoration is tied to the engineering of the site.
And when Dalradian's counsel raised concerns about getting a fair opportunity to respond, Niall had been keeping count...
🎧 Listen to today's update from inside the Inquiry, and please share it with anyone following Curraghinalt and the future of the Sperrins.
As always, this podcast is intended to help people understand what happened at the Inquiry by bringing together the week's evidence in plain English.
If you find these updates useful, please consider joining the Sperrins community  campaign newsletter.
https://dontmineus.com/newsletter/
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins