Having recently vacated their offices in Gortin Dalradian won't say why, in the poorly regulated planning system that brought RHI, Going for Growth and other public scandals, they still can't make any money after 15 years.
Global expert in all things mining, Professor Emerman, some years ago on a BBC Spotlight programme prophesied the dilemma now confronting developers. In his interactions with the department he was quoted as saying he had "never interacted with a regulatory agency that is so incompetent as NIEA" anywhere on the planet.
His assessment was correct. The planning service in Northern Ireland is not fit for purpose as multiple environmental disasters, past, current and ongoing testify. Foreign direct investment "FDI" via Dalradian, seeking to exploit weaknesses in the planning system made a fatal mistake when eyeing up the Sperrins though. They believed political assurances that community push back would be easily controlled. The opposite is the case, it's the politicians who have lost control. A popular rising on their own doorstep has confounded all the players who cooked up a deal to steal the Sperrins. Where things go from here is anyone's guess.
The legally necessary public inquiry into mining seems to have been indefinitely delayed whilst Dalradian continue to throw good money after bad, seeking new investors to fill the ever expanding financial void. The question now is not "if" but "when" a more pressing inquiry into planning irregularities and underhand political influence around mining in Northern Ireland will take place.
⏩Ciaran McClean campaigns against the rape of the Sperrins.
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