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 environmental and health risks of extractive industry the voices of those living with the consequences the wider questions of accountability, transparency, and justice This is a story  about how decisions are made, who bears the cost, and what is at stake for communities, land, and future generations. If you’re interested in environmental justice, planning systems, or the realities behind large-scale development, this podcast offers insight, clarity, and lived experience from the ground. For the air we breathe, the water we drink, the earth that supports us and the health of community now and for generations to come  we hold the line.

  1. 6h ago

    #🎙️94 |Public Inquiry Week Beginning 8th End of Mine Waste Sep 2026 Day 1 |

    The mine-waste evidence topic  reaches its final day at the Curraghinalt Public Inquiry, but big questions remain. From extreme rainfall and ageing drainage systems to liners, emergency planning and what happens long after the mine closes, today's evidence eventually led to a crucial question: Should this mine-waste facility actually be Category A? And when DfI was asked to point to the evidence supporting its decision that it isn't, things became interesting. Listen, share the podcast and help more people understand what is actually being said inside this Inquiry room. 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

  2. 5d ago

    #🎙️93 Dr Steven Emerman – When Engineering Meets Reality: The Curraghinalt Mine Waste Facility 03/09/26

    Dr Steven Emerman returns to the podcast to examine the proposed Curraghinalt Mine Waste Facility and the assumptions on which its long-term safety depends. Drawing on his recent investigation of filtered-tailings facilities in Indonesia including work undertaken by an engineering consultancy whom we will refer to as Consultancy A who also designed the proposed Curraghinalt dry-stack facility we discuss what happens when engineering calculations meet conditions on the ground. We explore water, drainage, compaction, foundations, monitoring, failure scenarios and restoration . Link to Steven’s report: https://dontmineus.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/filtered_tailings_in_indonesia.pdf Filtered Tailings in Indonesia The Catastrophic Failure of a DisruptiveTechnology Technical Report: Steven H. Emerman, PhD, Malach Consulting Summary, Analysis, and Recommendations: Ellen Moore, Jan Morrill, Vuyisile Ncube,and Paulina Personius, and Arianto Sangadji On behalf of Earthworks March, 2026 Link to #23 Dr. Emermans earlier podcast  - The Science of Failure: Truth, Risk, and Responsibility   Failure of Filtered Tailings Mine  Waste Facility  https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/repeated-failures-expose-gaps-in-indonesias-nickel-waste-management/ Dry stack facility- undergoing liquefaction:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCfMnlWmEbo   SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media)  https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins 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/

  3. 6d ago

    #🎙️92 |Public Inquiry Week Beginning 1st September 2026 Day 2 |

    What happens when you start pulling at the loose threads? Another extraordinary day at the Curraghinalt Public Inquiry, with the proposed mine waste facility firmly under the microscope. Today brought questions about calculations, ground investigations, boreholes, moisture, failure scenarios, consequence classifications and the guidance being relied upon. Again and again, third parties went back to the documents and asked some very basic questions: Where is the evidence? Has it been tested? And what happens if the assumptions are wrong? There were also a few moments of unintended humour including SRK's memorable insistence that "we use numbers, not rules of thumb." 🎧 Listen, share the podcast and please send it to someone who isn't following the Inquiry. What is happening in that room deserves a much wider public audience. 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

  4. Sep 1

    #🎙️91 |Public Inquiry Week Beginning 1st September 2026 Day 1 |

    High-Grade Gold, Empty Tunnels & Musical Chairs at the Curraghinalt Inquiry The room was packed today as the Public Inquiry returned to mine waste  with Dalradian surrounded by an extraordinary array of counsel, consultants and technical experts. But behind the occasional game of expert musical chairs were some very serious questions. In today's podcast: • Are Dalradian's estimates of gold suitably precautionary  and achievable? • What's the difference between a mineral resource and a mineral reserve? • Has GSNI independently tested Dalradian's estimates? • Why was an Irish seismicity map apparently absent from the mine-waste assessment? • Have tunnels that will remain unfilled underground been properly considered in assessing seismic risk? • And where does GSNI's role as scientific adviser sit alongside its history of promoting Northern Ireland's mineral potential? There were plenty of experts in the room today. Whether all the questions received equally substantial answers is another matter. Listen, share the podcast, and help more people understand what is actually being discussed at the Curraghinalt Public Inquiry. 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

  5. Aug 29

    #🎙️90|Public Inquiry Break – Before We Go Back In|

    As the Public Inquiry prepares to resume, this week I step back from the detail and look at the bigger picture  public trust, transparency, the role of ordinary people and why, after 12 years, we are still here. A moment to reflect before the next term begins. 🎧 Listen, share and help us bring more people into the conversation. The more people who understand what is happening in the Sperrins, the stronger the public voice becomes. 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 #SaveOurSperrins #DontMineUs #Sperrins #PublicInquiry #PublicTrust

  6. Aug 22

    #89 🎙️|Public Inquiry Break – If the River Could Speak 12th Aug 2026 Part B|

    This is the second podcast of two, where in the first podcast looked at the  new guidance for the water framework directive and how it might impact the public inquiry . This second podcast speaks from the point of view of the river  We still don't know why the applicant asked for this new guidance to be put before the Public Inquiry, or how they intend to use it when the water evidence begins. So rather than trying to second-guess the argument, maybe  we should learn how to listen for it. And this time I'm letting the river do the talking. 🎧 Listen and share this episode, particularly with anyone living downstream. Because perhaps the question isn't simply who speaks for the river? Rather it might be : Are we prepared to hear what she is telling us? As always, this podcast is intended to help people understand what is happening  at the Inquiry by bringing together the week's evidence in plain English. Read the European Commission guidance discussed in this podcast – C/2026/2836 (official EUR-Lex document). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52026XC02836&utm_source=chatgpt.com   If you find these updates useful, please consider joining the Sperrins community  campaign newsletter. https://dontmineus.com/newslatter/   SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media)  https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins

  7. Aug 15

    #88 🎙️|Public Inquiry Break – Before We Get to Water 11th Aug 2026 Part A|

    The Public Inquiry may be on a break, but just before we left, a newly published European Commission guidance document was admitted into the Inquiry at the request of the applicant. And it is all about water, permitting and mining. With 11 days of evidence on water, water ecology and non-water ecology scheduled for later in the Inquiry, I thought it was worth understanding this document before we get there. In this episode: What the new European Commission guidance actually says  and what it doesn’t. What exactly are mixing zones? What is a water body ? Natural background levels, monitoring and baseline evidence. New provisions around short-term deterioration and relocating existing pollution. And two words we may want to remember when the water evidence begins: “sufficient certainty.” This isn't the easiest subject, but water is far too important to leave entirely to the experts...... 🎧 Listen, share it with someone living downstream  and come back for the next episode, when I’ll look at the river has to say . Read the European Commission guidance discussed in this podcast – C/2026/2836 (official EUR-Lex document). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52026XC02836&utm_source=chatgpt.com   If you find these updates useful, please consider joining the Sperrins community  campaign newsletter. https://dontmineus.com/newslatter/   SAVE OUR SPERRINS ( Social Media)  https://linktr.ee/saveoursperrins

  8. Aug 5

    #87🎙️ |Public Inquiry Week Beginning 4th Aug Lighting Day 2 |

    This episode asks who gets to decide what a landscape becomes, explores the idea of darkness as part of our shared inheritance In this episode: The European Commission's new Water Framework Directive guidance and why campaigners are paying attention. Concerns raised about mitigation measures and the absence of key native files. Why today's hearing  was really  about power, place and stewardship although the topic was lighting . The idea of "the commons" and whether darkness belongs to all of us. A reflection on who gets to shape the landscapes we leave to future generations. 🎧 Listen now, and if you value independent reporting from inside the Public Inquiry, please follow, share and leave a review. Every recommendation helps others discover the podcast. 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/newslatter/

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out of 5
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About

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 environmental and health risks of extractive industry the voices of those living with the consequences the wider questions of accountability, transparency, and justice This is a story  about how decisions are made, who bears the cost, and what is at stake for communities, land, and future generations. If you’re interested in environmental justice, planning systems, or the realities behind large-scale development, this podcast offers insight, clarity, and lived experience from the ground. For the air we breathe, the water we drink, the earth that supports us and the health of community now and for generations to come  we hold the line.

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