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 chose to let it run as one piece, allowing the story to unfold in its own time.

What Pat and Nuala share is carried with great care and honesty. The effects they speak of are still present in their lives today, and this episode holds that with respect.

#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 

#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast

#ActivismPodcast

#IrishPodcast

#HumanRights

📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story -Have a listen, and if you have time  hit the  follow button  5 stars and a review on the podcast app , and please share if you can. it really makes a difference to the algorithm 

LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 

https://youtu.be/DxTt3G5G7y0?si=R7dR1JohSyEAyjUf 

Links to The Aughinish Incident is a hard-hitting investigative documentary uncovering the hidden risks, missing oversight, and decades of unanswered questions surrounding Aughinish Island.

https://buttonsoptions4u.podbean.com/e/dr-steven-h-emerman-%e2%80%93-the-science-of-failure-truth-risk-and-responsibility/

If you are interested in this conversation you might like to learn more about  tailings dumps by listening  to episode 23, a conversation with Dr Steven H. Emerman, The Science of Failure: Truth, Risk, and Responsibility. In that episode, Steven speaks in detail about mine tailings dams and slag heaps, and about the long-term risks they carry for people and places.

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

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 unanswered questions, and from someone thinking carefully about what’s being handed on.

#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 

#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast

#ActivismPodcast

#IrishPodcast

#HumanRights

📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story Have a listen, and if you have time  hit the  follow button  5 stars and a review on the podcast app , and please share if you can. it really makes a difference to the algorithm 

LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 

website https://www.dontmineus.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

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 understanding how we in the Global North are causing pain and suffering to those in the Global South . 

For anyone living in a place under pressure or trying to make sense of what progress is imposing on  ordinary communities  this one will stay with you.

#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 

#LivingUnderExtraction

#TheCostOfTransition

#MiningAndCommunities

#WhatProgressLeavesBehind

📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story -Have a listen, and if you have time  hit the  follow button  5 stars and a review on the podcast app , and please share if you can. it really makes a difference to the algorithm 

LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 

https://gerrymcgovern.com/books/99th-day/

Gerry's tour dates  in Ireland February 2026

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

End of Year Round-Up: 2025 | Save Our Sperrins

In 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 Save Our Sperrins podcast itself — why we started it, what we’ve learned about the importance of telling our own story, and how it has become both a source of ongoing updates and a living archive for communities facing extractive pressure.

The episode closes by looking ahead to Season Two, and sharing why the podcast will pause during January to prepare for the next phase of conversations and solidarity. 

#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 

#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast

#ActivismPodcast

#IrishPodcast

#HumanRights

📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story -Have a listen, and if you have time  hit the  follow button  5 stars and a review on the podcast app , and please share if you can. it really makes a difference to the algorithm 

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

In this episode of the Save Our Sperrins Podcast, I’m joined again by writer and activist Lynda Sullivan, fresh from COP30 in Brazil.

Lynda spent just one day inside the official Blue Zone, focusing instead on the People’s Summit and the global gatherings organised by Yes to Life, No to Mining, alongside thematic forums examining the mining and extractive economy. She reflects on the stark contrast between these spaces — one dominated by lobbying and polished messaging, the other grounded in lived experience, solidarity and shared concern.

We talk about what she witnessed, the limits of the COP process, and the growing understanding among frontline communities that responsibility cannot be endlessly deferred. When governments fail to act with urgency, communities are left to stand up and act where they live.

#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 

#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast

#Cop30

#Belem 

#ThePeoplesSummit 

#IrishPodcast

#HumanRights

📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story -Have a listen, and if you have time  hit the  follow button  5 stars and a review on the podcast app , and please share if you can. it really makes a difference to the algorithm 

LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW with Lynda Sullivan

https://cupuladospovoscop30.org/en/final-declaration/

Lynda's writing  from the  An Taisce blog   from Belem -

https://www.antaisce.org/blog/an-taisce-at-cop30-first-impressions

https://www.antaisce.org/blog/reporting-from-the-peoples-summitcupla-dos-povos-at-cop30

The People's Summit Website -https://cupuladospovoscop30.org/en/

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

In this episode, we sit down with two men who helped shape one of the most remarkable grassroots movements on the island of Ireland: the cross-border resistance to fracking along the Leitrim–Fermanagh border.

Back in 2012, when few understood the scale of the threat, farmers, families and community organisers began to join the dots between their wells, their rivers, their land and the industrial plans unfolding around them. Eddie Mitchell and Michael Gallagher were among those who stepped forward early Eddie through community organising and later political leadership, Michael through the farming networks that became central to the campaign’s power.

Together, they helped build a movement that reached across a border steeped in history and division, creating a unity that old politics could never have achieved. What mattered was the land, the water, and the shared responsibility to protect what could not be repaired once damaged.

More than a decade on, the same regions are now facing the prospect of gold mining and the new pressures brought by the Critical Raw Materials agenda. Eddie and Michael reflect on the parallels between then and now, what legislation helped and what failed during the fracking years, and how communities can once again find their strength in each other.

What happened in Leitrim and Fermanagh became a blueprint for us in the Sperrins: act early, work together, ignore old divisions, and build a movement stronger than the industries trying to divide us.

This is an episode about solidarity, courage and the extraordinary power of rural people when they refuse to be divided.

#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 

#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast

#ActivismPodcast

#IrishPodcast

#HumanRights

📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story -Have a listen, and if you have time  hit the  follow button  5 stars and a review on the podcast app , and please share if you can. it really makes a difference to the algorithm 

LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 

Eddie Mitchell's email 

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

This week’s podcast features Kelan Grant, a successful professional mountain biker — and a childhood friend of my own children, with family ties that stretch back over forty-five years.

Kelan has been on bikes almost since he could walk. He grew up in Knockmoyle, at the edge of the Sperrins, and now lives and races professionally  out of Morzine in the French Alps. I’ve watched his phenomenal progress over the years, from those first tentative wobbles to the accomplished rider he is today.

He has competed on some of Europe’s toughest enduro trails, and, in his own words, “the freedom, resilience and discipline the Sperrin uplands gave me as a young person is what sustains me today in my professional career.”

Kelan’s story is one of courage, connection, and deep respect for the land that raised him. 

He speaks candidly about the serious back injury he suffered earlier this year, and how it made him see the importance of that connection in a new light.

His voice is a powerful reminder of why wild, open spaces matter — for health, for hope, and for the spirit of the next generation.

📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story

#dontmineus #SaveOurSperrins #notoxicmining 

#EnvironmentPodcast #JusticePodcast

#ActivismPodcast

#IrishPodcast

#HumanRights

LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 

https://www.facebook.com/KelanGrantRacing

https://www.instagram.com/kelangrant/

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

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

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

📣 Share, review, and help amplify our story

LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 

 www.dartmountaincheese.com

https://www.facebook.com/dartmountaincheese

https://www.instagram.com/dartmountaincheese

[email protected]

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

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

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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