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PODCAST

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern Ireland

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Welcome to The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern Ireland A podcast examining the realities behind a proposed goldmine and the decisions shaping one of Ireland’s most contested landscapes. From the heart of the Sperrin Mountains, this series follows the intersection of mining, political power, and community experience, unpacking what happens when global demand meets local lives. Through in-depth conversations, we explore: the public inquiry process and who it really serves the

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All Episodes

8:55

#No.49🎙️ Public Inquiry Podcast - Week 2 Day 3

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/04/23

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 “limping along like a wounded animal” Questions raised about oral submissions with no paper trail A

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5:31

#No.48🎙️ Public Inquiry Week 2 -Day 2

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/04/21

Focus on economic modelling behind the Dalradian applicationSerious 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 questioned: jobs, local economy, real benefit? Strong intervention from Sean Clarke (Mid Ulster

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7:45

#No.47🎙️ Public Inquiry Podcast - Week 2 Day 1

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/04/20

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 Call to Action: 👉 Follow the podcast for daily insights from the inquiry 👉 Share this episode to keep the conversation going

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7:34

#No.46🎙️ Public Inquiry Podcast - Round-Up Fri 17th...

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/04/17

End of Week 1 at the not-so-public Public InquiryKey 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 👉 Follow the podcast for daily/weekly updates as the inquiry unfolds 👉 Share to keep others informed

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5:32

#No.45🎙️ Public Inquiry Podcast -Day 3

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/04/15

Day 3 of the Public Inquiry — and the process is starting to reveal itselfQuestions 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 condition: no cyanide permitted on site at any stage Debate deferred to mine waste session Major gap exposed:

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6:36

#No.44🎙️ Public Inquiry Podcast -Day 2

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/04/14

🎙️ 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 👉 Daily updates from inside the inquiry 📢 Follow & share to stay informed

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7:24

#No.43 🎙️ Public Inquiry Podcast – Day 1

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/04/13

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 without consent 💷 Who monitors the mine? No clear accountability From yellow umbrellas outside to

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9:42

#No.42 Dalradian’s New Marketing Campaign: A Reality...

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/04/11

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 industries use narrative, timing, and emotion to position private mining projects as solutions to public crises

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1:44

#No.41 Public Inquiry Begins: What Happens Next

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/04/07

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 informed throughout the inquiry and share it with anyone trying to make sense of what’s happening. This

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52:02

#No.40 Voice, Value and Who Gets Heard: A...

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/04/05

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 conversation opens up bigger questions about voice, power, and participation in society. 🔍 In the episode, we

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41:58

#No.39 Public Inquiry, Private Barriers

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/03/28

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 people, planet and place. Today Laura unpacks two international agreements that are designed to

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62:11

#No.38 The Bog Is Not Empty A Conversation with...

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/03/21

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 way of seeing and listening to the land beneath our feet 👉 If this episode resonates,

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52:20

#No. 37 The Sperrins at a Crossroads: Wind Power , ...

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/03/14

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, grid infrastructure, data centres and the rising energy demands of Big Tech. We look at extractivism in

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51:47

#No.36 Mount Polley, Indigenous Land Rights and the...

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/03/07

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 that had sustained them for generations. Questions remain about water quality. How the clean up is only

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56:45

#No.35 When “Public” Isn’t Public . A conversation...

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/02/28

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 Convention and the Espoo Convention, and what they require when a project in one jurisdiction may affect

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48:49

#No.34 Peatlands, Carbon, and the Public Inquiry with...

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/02/21

In this episode, we sit down with Alessandra Accogli and Elena Aitova 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 brings her research on measuring greenhouse gas emissions from Irish raised bogs, and on what restoration and re-wetting actually

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109:53

#No.33 Pat and Nuala: Living 5 Miles from Europe’s...

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/02/14

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 at moments. Those sounds and interruptions remain part of the episode. It is longer than usual, and I

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56:11

#No.32 From the High Ground with Cahal Keenan

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/02/07

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 paying attention. What you hear here comes out of day-to-day reality, from a place carrying a lot of

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84:57

# No. 31 99th Day: The Cost of the New Mining Rush...

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2026/01/31

In this episode, I’m joined again by Gerry McGovern to talk about his new book, 99th Day.We stay with what the book is really about, the mining being driven by the energy transition, the waste that follows modern technology, and the communities who end up living with the consequences long before any promises are made, and long after the attention moves on. It’s not an easy conversation, and it doesn’t try to be. We talk about scale, about damage, and about the uncomfortable feeling that comes from

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16:06

At the Turning of the Year: A 2025 Round-Up

The Sperrins: Mining, Power & Community in Northern... ·

2025/12/31

End of Year Round-Up: 2025 | Save Our SperrinsIn this special end-of-year episode, Save Our Sperrins looks back over a pivotal year in the campaign to protect the Sperrin Mountains from gold mining. From the suspension of the Public Inquiry in January, through moments of international solidarity, creative resistance and legal challenge, to the relinquishing of mineral prospecting licences in October, this episode traces the key events of 2025 month by month. We also reflect on the launch of the

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