The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern Ireland

#No.26 Business, Human Rights and the Battle for Accountability a Conversation with Chris O Connell Trócaire .

Chris O’Connell, Trócaire
In this episode of Protecting the Sperrins – Voices from the Frontline, Marella Fyffe speaks with Chris O’Connell, Senior Policy Advisor at Trócaire, about the growing global movement for a UN Treaty on Business and Human Rights.
From decades of work across the Global South, Chris brings a deep understanding of how deregulation benefits corporate power, how trade agreements can quietly undermine democracy and the environment, and why binding rules for business are urgently needed.
Their conversation moves from the global to the local — from Geneva to the Sperrins — exploring how these issues touch the lives of communities here at home who are already facing the consequences of corporate freedom without accountability.
Chris also reflects on the rising tide of social movements and ‘change elections’ taking place across the world, offering insight — and hope — for those standing up to power in their own backyards.
A wide-ranging, grounded, and deeply relevant conversation about justice, responsibility, and the kind of future we choose to create. 
📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story
#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining #BusinessAndHumanRights #UNTreatyOnBusinessAndHumanRights
#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast#ActivismPodcast#IrishPodcast#HumanRights
LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 
Trócaire Ireland 
https://www.trocaire.org/news/why-we-need-a-business-human-rights-treaty/https://yestolifenotomining.org/
 
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
 
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES 
http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/
Mining in Ireland is a contentious issue, with 19% of the Republic of Ireland and 27% of Northern Ireland’s land area issued in prospecting licences. While mining companies claim to bring jobs and development, communities like those near Tara Mines and Gypsum Ltd have faced significant environmental and social impacts. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM) is an all-island network resisting prospecting and extraction.
https://yestolifenotomining.org/
The Yes to Life, No to Mining website is a global hub for communities resisting destructive mining projects. It shares stories from the frontlines, practical resources for local campaigns, and research that exposes the true costs of extraction. The network connects people around the world who are protecting their land, water, and ways of life, and promotes alternatives grounded in care for nature and community wellbeing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-goldrush-by-gerry-mcgovern/id1681123169
Do Irish people know that Ireland has been selected as a Green sacrifice song for the so-called green technology, renewable energy transition from the beautiful wilds of Clare, Wicklow and Leitrim to the outstanding natural beauty of the Sperrin mountains of Tyrone. Rural Ireland is on Big Mining's chopping block.
This podcast is about the power of community, about how communities of Ireland are organising to stop this disaster happening. For short term returns, the government wants to sell Ireland  to mining interests as silently and quietly as possible. Let's make some noises. We will try to unravel why the Irish government is doing this
 
LINKS TO Greencastle People’s Office(GPO) Facebook Page - and the site of the GPO ( The GPO is a humble caravan which has become a hub for the campaign against the goldmine ) 
 
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579042613&sk=about
 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cz7FHdUoi5ByxECz7?g_st=ipc
 

#No.25 How Small Food Producers Strengthen a Rural Economy: Dart Mountain Cheese

In this week’s episode, I sit down with Julie from Dart Mountain Cheese, an artisan cheesemaking company rooted deep in the foothills of the Sperrins. What begins as a story about cheese quickly becomes something much bigger: a conversation about place, sustainability, and how to build a meaningful livelihood in a rural landscape often written off as economically limited.
Julie  shares how Dart Mountain Cheese began, why the Sperrins were the only place that felt right, and how clean air, clean water and healthy soil are at the heart of everything they produce. We talk about the realities of small-scale food production, the challenges and rewards of adding value locally, and how collaboration with other local producers—from goat farmers to craft food makers—can create a thriving network and even a genuine food trail in the region.
We also explore a counter-story to the dominant narrative of extraction: what a regenerative, long-term rural economy can look like when it grows from skill, craft, community and the land itself.
This is a gentle, grounded and surprisingly expansive conversation about food, landscape and the future of rural life in the Sperrins.
#SaveOurSperrins#DartMountainCheese#LocalFoodEconomy#SustainableSperrins#RuralResilience
📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story
LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 
 www.dartmountaincheese.com
https://www.facebook.com/dartmountaincheese
https://www.instagram.com/dartmountaincheese
julie@dartmountaincheese.com
 
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
https://www.youtube.com/@SaveOurSperrins
 
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES 
http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/
Mining in Ireland is a contentious issue, with 19% of the Republic of Ireland and 27% of Northern Ireland’s land area issued in prospecting licences. While mining companies claim to bring jobs and development, communities like those near Tara Mines and Gypsum Ltd have faced significant environmental and social impacts. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM) is an all-island network resisting prospecting and extraction.
https://yestolifenotomining.org/
The Yes to Life, No to Mining website is a global hub for communities resisting destructive mining projects. It shares stories from the frontlines, practical resources for local campaigns, and research that exposes the true costs of extraction. The network connects people around the world who are protecting their land, water, and ways of life, and promotes alternatives grounded in care for nature and community wellbeing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-goldrush-by-gerry-mcgovern/id1681123169
Do Irish people know that Ireland has been selected as a Green sacrifice song for the so-called green technology, renewable energy transition from the beautiful wilds of Clare, Wicklow and Leitrim to the outstanding natural beauty of the Sperrin mountains of Tyrone. Rural Ireland is on Big Mining's chopping block.
This podcast is about the power of community, about how communities of Ireland are organising to stop this disaster happening. For short term returns, the government wants to sell Ireland  to mining interests as silently and quietly as possible. Let's make some noises. We will try to unravel why the Irish government is doing this
 
LINKS TO Greencastle People’s Office(GPO) Facebook Page - and the site of the GPO ( The GPO is a humble caravan which has become a hub for the campaign against the goldmine ) 
 
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579042613&sk=about
 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cz7FHdUoi5ByxECz7?g_st=ipc
 
 
 

#No.24 UK Critical Minerals Strategy 2035: What It Means for Communities and the Environment

In this bonus episode, I dig into the UK’s newly published Critical Minerals Strategy 2035 — a document dressed up as environmental responsibility, yet rooted in the same extractive logic that has driven ecological breakdown for decades. Behind its polished language lies a blueprint for expanded mining, weakened planning protections and a deeper entanglement between government, finance and the arms industry. Communities are reduced to footnotes; ecosystems are treated as expendable; and the climate crisis is used to justify fresh harm.
This episode unpacks what the strategy really means for places like the Sperrins. It exposes the quiet convergence of political power and corporate interests, the gap between rhetoric and reality, and the way decisions of enormous consequence are made far from the landscapes that will pay the price. If you want to understand the forces shaping our hills, our water and our future, this is essential listening.
#CriticalMineralsStrategy#UKMining#CommunityRights#EnvironmentalJustice#SaveOurSperrins#MiningImpacts#GreenTransition
 
📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story
 
LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 
 
UK Critical Minerals Strategy 2035 - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-critical-minerals-strategy/vision-2035-critical-minerals-strategy
 
 
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
https://www.youtube.com/@SaveOurSperrins
 
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES 
http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/
Mining in Ireland is a contentious issue, with 19% of the Republic of Ireland and 27% of Northern Ireland’s land area issued in prospecting licences. While mining companies claim to bring jobs and development, communities like those near Tara Mines and Gypsum Ltd have faced significant environmental and social impacts. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM) is an all-island network resisting prospecting and extraction.
https://yestolifenotomining.org/
The Yes to Life, No to Mining website is a global hub for communities resisting destructive mining projects. It shares stories from the frontlines, practical resources for local campaigns, and research that exposes the true costs of extraction. The network connects people around the world who are protecting their land, water, and ways of life, and promotes alternatives grounded in care for nature and community wellbeing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-goldrush-by-gerry-mcgovern/id1681123169
Do Irish people know that Ireland has been selected as a Green sacrifice song for the so-called green technology, renewable energy transition from the beautiful wilds of Clare, Wicklow and Leitrim to the outstanding natural beauty of the Sperrin mountains of Tyrone. Rural Ireland is on Big Mining's chopping block.
This podcast is about the power of community, about how communities of Ireland are organising to stop this disaster happening. For short term returns, the government wants to sell Ireland  to mining interests as silently and quietly as possible. Let's make some noises. We will try to unravel why the Irish government is doing this
 
LINKS TO Greencastle People’s Office(GPO) Facebook Page - and the site of the GPO ( The GPO is a humble caravan which has become a hub for the campaign against the goldmine ) 
 
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579042613&sk=about
 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cz7FHdUoi5ByxECz7?g_st=ipc
 

#No.23 Dr Steven H. Emerman – The Science of Failure: Truth, Risk, and Responsibility

In this episode, Marella speaks with Dr Steven H. Emerman, hydrologist, geophysicist, and one of the world’s leading independent experts on mine tailings storage facilities.
Dr Emerman brings decades of research and international experience to a conversation that cuts through technical jargon and gets to the heart of what’s at stake in the Dalradian Gold planning application for the Sperrins.
He explains that the standard industry position is that all tailings dams will eventually fail and that every one requires maintenance in perpetuity — creating a permanent burden for future generations. Even more alarming, tailings dams are never insured; they are considered uninsurable risks.
Yet within the Dalradian application there is no analysis of the consequences of failure — no clear modelling to show what would happen if the incorrectly termed  “Dry Stack Facility” were to give way. Dr Emerman outlines what such an event would mean for the people of Greencastle, for everyone living, farming, or fishing along the Pollanroe Burn, Owenreagh, Owenkillew, and Foyle river corridors, and for the Donegal seafood industry downstream.
📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story
#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 
#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast
#ActivismPodcast
#IrishPodcast
#HumanRights
LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 
 
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
https://www.youtube.com/@SaveOurSperrins
 
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES 
http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/
Mining in Ireland is a contentious issue, with 19% of the Republic of Ireland and 27% of Northern Ireland’s land area issued in prospecting licences. While mining companies claim to bring jobs and development, communities like those near Tara Mines and Gypsum Ltd have faced significant environmental and social impacts. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM) is an all-island network resisting prospecting and extraction.
https://yestolifenotomining.org/
The Yes to Life, No to Mining website is a global hub for communities resisting destructive mining projects. It shares stories from the frontlines, practical resources for local campaigns, and research that exposes the true costs of extraction. The network connects people around the world who are protecting their land, water, and ways of life, and promotes alternatives grounded in care for nature and community wellbeing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-goldrush-by-gerry-mcgovern/id1681123169
Do Irish people know that Ireland has been selected as a Green sacrifice song for the so-called green technology, renewable energy transition from the beautiful wilds of Clare, Wicklow and Leitrim to the outstanding natural beauty of the Sperrin mountains of Tyrone. Rural Ireland is on Big Mining's chopping block.
This podcast is about the power of community, about how communities of Ireland are organising to stop this disaster happening. For short term returns, the government wants to sell Ireland  to mining interests as silently and quietly as possible. Let's make some noises. We will try to unravel why the Irish government is doing this
 
LINKS TO Greencastle People’s Office(GPO) Facebook Page - and the site of the GPO ( The GPO is a humble caravan which has become a hub for the campaign against the goldmine ) 
 
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579042613&sk=about
 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cz7FHdUoi5ByxECz7?g_st=ipc
 
 

#No.22 Mining the Truth: A Conversation with Lynda Sullivan

Lynda Sullivan has spent years working with communities affected by mining, from the Andes to the Sperrins. She speaks about how Ireland became a “green sacrifice zone”, the myth of mining as a climate solution, and what happens when governments trade nature for profit. Her work with CAIM and the Yes to Life, No to Mining network connects local struggles into a wider movement for protection and change.
📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story
#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 
#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast
#ActivismPodcast
#IrishPodcast
#HumanRights
LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 
http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/
https://yestolifenotomining.org/
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-abcs-of-green-politics/id1535697681?i=1000494627519
 
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
 
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES 
http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/
Mining in Ireland is a contentious issue, with 19% of the Republic of Ireland and 27% of Northern Ireland’s land area issued in prospecting licences. While mining companies claim to bring jobs and development, communities like those near Tara Mines and Gypsum Ltd have faced significant environmental and social impacts. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM) is an all-island network resisting prospecting and extraction.
https://yestolifenotomining.org/
The Yes to Life, No to Mining website is a global hub for communities resisting destructive mining projects. It shares stories from the frontlines, practical resources for local campaigns, and research that exposes the true costs of extraction. The network connects people around the world who are protecting their land, water, and ways of life, and promotes alternatives grounded in care for nature and community wellbeing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-goldrush-by-gerry-mcgovern/id1681123169
Do Irish people know that Ireland has been selected as a Green sacrifice song for the so-called green technology, renewable energy transition from the beautiful wilds of Clare, Wicklow and Leitrim to the outstanding natural beauty of the Sperrin mountains of Tyrone. Rural Ireland is on Big Mining's chopping block.
This podcast is about the power of community, about how communities of Ireland are organising to stop this disaster happening. For short term returns, the government wants to sell Ireland  to mining interests as silently and quietly as possible. Let's make some noises. We will try to unravel why the Irish government is doing this
 
LINKS TO Greencastle People’s Office(GPO) Facebook Page - and the site of the GPO ( The GPO is a humble caravan which has become a hub for the campaign against the goldmine ) 
 
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579042613&sk=about
 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cz7FHdUoi5ByxECz7?g_st=ipc
 

#No.21 Butterlope Farm – A Different Kind of Progress

In this episode, we visit Butterlope Farm near Plumbridge, in the heart of the Sperrin Mountains, where Annie and Vincent Mullan have built a life rooted in care — for land, people, and community.
Annie, with her background in environmental education, and Vincent, a lifelong farmer, have created a social farm that shows how upland farming can be both sustainable and deeply human. Their approach offers a living contrast to the industrialisation creeping across the Sperrins — mining, wind farms, and so-called “progress” that too often leave behind scarred land and divided communities.
Through their stories, we explore what real progress might look like when measured not in profit, but in connection and continuity. We talk about ancient clochans still standing on their fields, the rhythm of the seasons, and the ethics that guide their work — equality, inclusion, and a belief that upland bog is more precious than gold.
This is an episode about stewardship, resilience, and the quiet power of living in right relationship with the land — a reminder that true sustainability begins at home, in the hands of those who tend and protect it.
 
📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story
#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 
#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast
#ActivismPodcast
#IrishPodcast
#HumanRights
LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 
https://www.butterlopefarm.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/ButterlopeFarm
https://www.instagram.com/butterlopefarm/
https://www.soengage.eu/introduction-to-soengage/
 
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES 
http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/
Mining in Ireland is a contentious issue, with 19% of the Republic of Ireland and 27% of Northern Ireland’s land area issued in prospecting licences. While mining companies claim to bring jobs and development, communities like those near Tara Mines and Gypsum Ltd have faced significant environmental and social impacts. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM) is an all-island network resisting prospecting and extraction.
https://yestolifenotomining.org/
The Yes to Life, No to Mining website is a global hub for communities resisting destructive mining projects. It shares stories from the frontlines, practical resources for local campaigns, and research that exposes the true costs of extraction. The network connects people around the world who are protecting their land, water, and ways of life, and promotes alternatives grounded in care for nature and community wellbeing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-goldrush-by-gerry-mcgovern/id1681123169
Do Irish people know that Ireland has been selected as a Green sacrifice song for the so-called green technology, renewable energy transition from the beautiful wilds of Clare, Wicklow and Leitrim to the outstanding natural beauty of the Sperrin mountains of Tyrone. Rural Ireland is on Big Mining's chopping block.
This podcast is about the power of community, about how communities of Ireland are organising to stop this disaster happening. For short term returns, the government wants to sell Ireland  to mining interests as silently and quietly as possible. Let's make some noises. We will try to unravel why the Irish government is doing this
 
LINKS TO Greencastle People’s Office(GPO) Facebook Page - and the site of the GPO ( The GPO is a humble caravan which has become a hub for the campaign against the goldmine ) 
 
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579042613&sk=about
 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cz7FHdUoi5ByxECz7?g_st=ipc
 

#No.20 From the Sperrins to COP 30: Dr Lorna Gold on Caring for Creation

In this episode, Marella speaks with Dr Lorna Gold, Executive Director of the Laudato Si’ Movement — a global network inspired by Pope Francis’s call to care for our common home. From her long experience in climate justice and faith-based environmental work, Lorna brings insight into how moral and spiritual leadership can shape our collective response to the ecological crisis.
As she prepares to travel to COP 30 in Brazil in November 2025 , Lorna reflects on the tensions between the drive for critical minerals and the urgent need to protect communities and ecosystems. Together, we explore how faith, conscience, and compassion can guide us through these times of profound change — and how local struggles, like the one here in the Sperrin Mountains, connect to a global movement for justice and renewal.
📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story
#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 
#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast
#ActivismPodcast
#IrishPodcast
#HumanRights
LINKS FOR DR.LORNA GOLD  INTERVIEW 
Laudato Si website : https://laudatosimovement.org/
COP 30 website : https://cop30.br/en
Lorna's books : Climate Generation Awakening Our Children's Future 
The Emergence of and Economy of Communion 
 
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
 
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES 
http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/
Mining in Ireland is a contentious issue, with 19% of the Republic of Ireland and 27% of Northern Ireland’s land area issued in prospecting licences. While mining companies claim to bring jobs and development, communities like those near Tara Mines and Gypsum Ltd have faced significant environmental and social impacts. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM) is an all-island network resisting prospecting and extraction.
https://yestolifenotomining.org/
The Yes to Life, No to Mining website is a global hub for communities resisting destructive mining projects. It shares stories from the frontlines, practical resources for local campaigns, and research that exposes the true costs of extraction. The network connects people around the world who are protecting their land, water, and ways of life, and promotes alternatives grounded in care for nature and community wellbeing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-goldrush-by-gerry-mcgovern/id1681123169
Do Irish people know that Ireland has been selected as a Green sacrifice song for the so-called green technology, renewable energy transition from the beautiful wilds of Clare, Wicklow and Leitrim to the outstanding natural beauty of the Sperrin mountains of Tyrone. Rural Ireland is on Big Mining's chopping block.
This podcast is about the power of community, about how communities of Ireland are organising to stop this disaster happening. For short term returns, the government wants to sell Ireland  to mining interests as silently and quietly as possible. Let's make some noises. We will try to unravel why the Irish government is doing this
 
LINKS TO Greencastle People’s Office(GPO) Facebook Page - and the site of the GPO ( The GPO is a humble caravan which has become a hub for the campaign against the goldmine ) 
 
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579042613&sk=about
 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cz7FHdUoi5ByxECz7?g_st=ipc
 
 
 

# No 19. Sacred Sperrins Living Land :A Conversation with Kerry McCory

In this episode, I speak with Kerry McCrory, who lives in Coneyglen in the heart of the Sperrins. Through her holistic practice, Kerry helps people reconnect with balance, colour, and the deeper rhythms of nature — but over the years, her care for human well-being has become inseparable from her care for the land itself - through her  opposition to the gold mine  to challenging the spread of industrial wind farms.
 Kerry  speaks movingly  about the sacred relationship between people and place.This is a conversation about the sacred, in its truest sense: the everyday holiness of the hills, the quiet power of community, and the call to protect what we love before it’s gone.
For the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil we grow from — together, we hold the line.
📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story
#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 
#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast
#ActivismPodcast
#IrishPodcast
#HumanRights
 
Links for Kerry
Kerry's new website www.sacred-rainbow-weave.com 
The summit that Kerry organised can be found here: www.sacredrainbowcurrent.com 
Facebook page Kerry https://www.facebook.com/kerry.mccrory.79
Facebook page Coneyglen https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064599586019
Email light@sacred-rainbow-weave.com 
 
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
 
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES 
http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/
Mining in Ireland is a contentious issue, with 19% of the Republic of Ireland and 27% of Northern Ireland’s land area issued in prospecting licences. While mining companies claim to bring jobs and development, communities like those near Tara Mines and Gypsum Ltd have faced significant environmental and social impacts. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM) is an all-island network resisting prospecting and extraction.
https://yestolifenotomining.org/
The Yes to Life, No to Mining website is a global hub for communities resisting destructive mining projects. It shares stories from the frontlines, practical resources for local campaigns, and research that exposes the true costs of extraction. The network connects people around the world who are protecting their land, water, and ways of life, and promotes alternatives grounded in care for nature and community wellbeing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-goldrush-by-gerry-mcgovern/id1681123169
Do Irish people know that Ireland has been selected as a Green sacrifice song for the so-called green technology, renewable energy transition from the beautiful wilds of Clare, Wicklow and Leitrim to the outstanding natural beauty of the Sperrin mountains of Tyrone. Rural Ireland is on Big Mining's chopping block.
This podcast is about the power of community, about how communities of Ireland are organising to stop this disaster happening. For short term returns, the government wants to sell Ireland  to mining interests as silently and quietly as possible. Let's make some noises. We will try to unravel why the Irish government is doing this
 
LINKS TO Greencastle People’s Office(GPO) Facebook Page - and the site of the GPO ( The GPO is a humble caravan which has become a hub for the campaign against the goldmine ) 
 
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579042613&sk=about
 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cz7FHdUoi5ByxECz7?g_st=ipc
 
 

#No.18 Frontlines of Justice:James Orr on Power, Place and the Politics of Extraction

In this conversation, James Orr — Director of Friends of the Earth Northern Ireland — joins us to reflect on decades of environmental work, solidarity, and vision for change.From his long-standing support for the Save Our Sperrins campaign to his calls for an independent environmental agency and a just settlement for Lough Neagh, James brings a rare combination of grounded experience and deep ecological thinking.We talk about what it means to move beyond extractivism, how communities can stand together in the face of corporate power, and the urgent need to reimagine how we live with and care for the land and water that sustain us all.
📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story
#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 
#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast
#ActivismPodcast
#IrishPodcast
#HumanRights
 
 LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 
https://friendsoftheearth.uk/latest/northern-ireland
 
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
https://www.youtube.com/@SaveOurSperrins
 
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES 
http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/
Mining in Ireland is a contentious issue, with 19% of the Republic of Ireland and 27% of Northern Ireland’s land area issued in prospecting licences. While mining companies claim to bring jobs and development, communities like those near Tara Mines and Gypsum Ltd have faced significant environmental and social impacts. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM) is an all-island network resisting prospecting and extraction.
https://yestolifenotomining.org/
The Yes to Life, No to Mining website is a global hub for communities resisting destructive mining projects. It shares stories from the frontlines, practical resources for local campaigns, and research that exposes the true costs of extraction. The network connects people around the world who are protecting their land, water, and ways of life, and promotes alternatives grounded in care for nature and community wellbeing.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-goldrush-by-gerry-mcgovern/id1681123169
Do Irish people know that Ireland has been selected as a Green sacrifice song for the so-called green technology, renewable energy transition from the beautiful wilds of Clare, Wicklow and Leitrim to the outstanding natural beauty of the Sperrin mountains of Tyrone. Rural Ireland is on Big Mining's chopping block.
This podcast is about the power of community, about how communities of Ireland are organising to stop this disaster happening. For short term returns, the government wants to sell Ireland  to mining interests as silently and quietly as possible. Let's make some noises. We will try to unravel why the Irish government is doing this
 
LINKS TO Greencastle People’s Office(GPO) Facebook Page - and the site of the GPO ( The GPO is a humble caravan which has become a hub for the campaign against the goldmine ) 
 
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579042613&sk=about
 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cz7FHdUoi5ByxECz7?g_st=ipc
 

#No.17Divided by Gold, Rooted in Place: Emma Conway on Family, Land and Belonging

In this conversation, Marella speaks with Emma Conway, founder of Sperrin Soul Forest School — a mother, educator, and member of an extended  local family whose differing views on the goldmine mirror the wider divisions playing out across this rural community
While parts of Emma’s family have engaged with Dalradian, others, including Emma herself, have spoken out against the mine.
 It’s a story that runs deep — of love and loyalty, of belonging and belief — and of what it means to keep connection alive when the land beneath you becomes contested.
Together, they talk about  how extractive projects fracture communities, and why Emma continues to plant hope — quite literally — in the living soil of these hills and bogs
This episode invites us to listen for the smaller quieter acts of resistance: nurturing children’s wonder, teaching care for the more-than-human world, and remembering that healing the land begins with how we treat one another.
For the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the soil we grow from — together we hold the line.
#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 
#DividedByGold #RootedInTheSperrins #StoriesFromTheHills 
📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story
 LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 
Sperrin Soul Forest School 
sperrinsoul@gmail.com
linktr.ee/sperrinsoul
instagram sperrinsoul_forestschool 
https://irishforestschoolassociation.ie/
 
SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media) 
https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins
https://www.youtube.com/@SaveOurSperrins 
 
LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES 
http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/
Mining in Ireland is a contentious issue, with 19% of the Republic of Ireland and 27% of Northern Ireland’s land area issued in prospecting licences. While mining companies claim to bring jobs and development, communities like those near Tara Mines and Gypsum Ltd have faced significant environmental and social impacts. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM) is an all-island network resisting prospecting and extraction.
 
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-goldrush-by-gerry-mcgovern/id1681123169
Do Irish people know that Ireland has been selected as a Green sacrifice song for the so-called green technology, renewable energy transition from the beautiful wilds of Clare, Wicklow and Leitrim to the outstanding natural beauty of the Sperrin mountains of Tyrone. Rural Ireland is on Big Mining's chopping block.
This podcast is about the power of community, about how communities of Ireland are organising to stop this disaster happening. For short term returns, the government wants to sell Ireland  to mining interests as silently and quietly as possible. Let's make some noises. We will try to unravel why the Irish government is doing this
 
LINKS TO Greencastle People’s Office(GPO) Facebook Page - and the site of the GPO ( The GPO is a humble caravan which has become a hub for the campaign against the goldmine ) 
 
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579042613&sk=about
 
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cz7FHdUoi5ByxECz7?g_st=ipc