No mining in Northern Ireland

We all want to have good health, clean drinking water and a flourishing countryside. But your attempt to open up Northern Ireland for dirty mining will put all that at risk.

Caoimhe Archibald’s Department for the Economy has awarded SEVEN licenses that give big mining companies the right to explore and drill for minerals such as gold, copper and diamond in County Armagh, Fermanagh and Tyrone. And one of those companies is Dalradian, who are pushing hard to build a toxic gold mine in the Sperrin Mountains.

Just weeks ago, we submitted this petition calling on Caoimhe Archibald to block these licenses - but the consultation report is out - and even though 99.5% of those responding opposed the licenses, they’ve gone ahead regardless. And it makes a mockery of the Department’s consultation process.

Mining is a filthy business. It pollutes our water and land with chemicals, harms our health and destroys our beautiful ecosystems. Approximately 12% of Northern Ireland’s land has been opened up for mining exploration across Country Armagh, Derry, Fermanagh and Tyrone. There is The North would become a sacrifice zone while filthy mining companies make billions in profit.

For these companies, this was always the plan for Northern Ireland. In 2015, the Dalradian CEO said “I’m not talking about a single mine. We are working on building a mine camp here [in Northern Ireland].”

We, the undersigned, call on the Minister Caoimhe Archibald to u-turn and reject the following licenses. We need her to listen stop even more corporations who want to mine, regardless of the damage it does to our health, and to our climate: