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Showing posts with label Ciaran McClean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ciaran McClean. Show all posts
Ciaran McClean ✍ As events unfold in Venezuela with America appropriating it's natural resources to bring the people there prosperity after firstly seeing to USA oil companies, the Omagh based international mining company, Dalradian, must look on with envy as they enter their seventeenth year of financial failure in Northern Ireland.

Dalradian's investors would take the Sperrins Venezuela-style in a heartbeat had they the wherewithal to do so. Unfortunately for them Northern Ireland isn't Venezuela.
 
Going nowhere fast, Dalradian fall between two stools in their quest to enrich themselves at the expense of this little place. The outdated colonial playbook on how to buy your way into a country has proven worthless in the face of well organised local opposition who saw the miners' play from day one.

Secondly, the attempt to industrialise the Sperrins can't meet minimum environmental standards in law. With community activists understanding the planning system better than slothful politicians and inept civil servants, every move to facilitate Dalradian is counter checked. Unlike the last major scandal in Northern Ireland, there are no RHI type off-ramp options to allow the mining proposal to gain traction.

The scales of justice also refuse to tip in Dalradian's favour as protection of the common good, particularly environmental cases, increasingly prevail via the courts. Meanwhile, citizens see the Northern Ireland Executive support for (FDI) Foreign Direct Investment, at any cost, exposed as an exercise which trades their health and wellbeing to financially benefit privately operated businesses. They will not countenance that type of deal for the Sperrins.

In 2026 goldmining licences are expiring, environmental surveys outdated, legal obligations unfulfilled, even Dalradians camp in the Sperrins must be dismantled and returned to a green field site in the next short while. 

All of the above points to a harsh reality for anyone foolish enough to buy into the fairy tale about digging up untold riches in the Sperrins. The question now is not, if the goldminers leave Northern Ireland, but when? Having relocated from South America to Northern Ireland some years ago believing political circumstances here looked favourable to assist their scheme, Dalradian would be well advised to avoid returning to that region. Regardless of who wears them, American jackboots will be resisted in Venezuela, Northern Ireland or anywhere else they try and impose themselves.

⏩Ciaran McClean campaigns against the rape of the Sperrins.

Resisting Gold Diggers In Sperrins

Mick Collins ✒ Last Wednesday in Omagh at the planning inquiry into the creation of a huge gold mine in Greencastle Brexit and Nationalism reared their ugly heads.

The Department for Infrastructure in the North of Ireland under the stewardship and direction of avowed nationalist – Sein Fein’s John O’Dowd and the previous erstwhile nationalist Minister Nicola Mallon of the SDLP failed to consult Donegal County Council, the citizens of Donegal or the Irish government's own environment agency over plans which would entail discharges into river systems which are connected to the river systems in the Republic of Ireland. It was hugely embarrassing for John O’Dowd who has for decades been part of a political movement that claims the reunification of Ireland as its reason for existence.

The planning inquiry has now being postponed twice and in both instances the inherent issues were in relation to water. The Dalradian project needs water and lots of it, for extraction to run the mining production equipment and filtration systems and for discharge of problematic elements of the gold extraction waste. It is believed by campaigners that Dalradian has only incorporated extraction of 10% of needed water, ninety percent of extraction and where it might come from is hidden in the comprehensive planning papers. The issue never got that far as Brexit reared its ugly and hugely embarrassing head on Wednesday morning.

The Department for Infrastructure did not foresee that omissions of meaningful consultations with the Republic of Ireland constitutes breaches of European environmental and political law. As it stands the British government has not dealt with transboundary issues or even considered it necessary. European law still holds sway until the British Government creates some form of legislative structure to deal with issues which may have effects for the environment and health of its near EU neighbour. The Northern Ireland Office and the very compliant Stormont executive in their haste to facilitate American and Canadian financial investment overlooked their own international obligations. After an intractable and bruising period of post Brexit negotiations over the North and its place in the UK and Europe another intractable issue rears its head. The Dalradian project and the discharge of mine waste could poison the waters of the Norths nearest neighbours in the EU.

Wednesday at the Strule Arts Centre in Omagh was awash with well - heeled and highly - polished government barristers and lawyers, not one of them saw what was coming. Just before Christmas a highly effective campaigner contacted the Belfast Telegraph senior journalist Garett Hargan. Ciaran McClean - the well-known and highly respected son of the late civil rights activist, Paddy Joe McClean - stated that the Department of Infrastructure was failing to consult on transboundary issues. McClean made the Chief Executive of the Planning Appeals Commission aware , the Irish government were made aware, the Department of Infrastructure was made aware, nothing was done. It was the anti-gold mine campaigners from Omagh, Greencastle and Donegal who blew the lack of trans boundary consultation out of the water.

The managing director of Dalradian Gold NI had to sit and listen as the constitutional threads unravelled. His boss in Canada once extolled and waxed lyrical about the most user friendly administration he had ever worked with. He loved telling the story of his family roots in County Antrim. He never foresaw the constant difficulties within the DFI in the North of Ireland. The DFI never had the knowledge or expertise to deal with a huge and controversial planning application. It did not have the nous to realise that there would be serious political difficulties in pushing the application forward. The DFI acted in a highly negligent and unprofessional manner. The DFI appointed a company with very close financial links to the gold industry to manage the planning application and advise senior civil servants who then would advise the minister. The expert consultancy companies representatives have been absent from the planning inquiry. The Department has failed to deliver a workable planning structure to deal with a planning application riddled with inconsistencies.

The anti-gold mine campaigners were once described by mining executives as’ welly wearing farmers’. Disappointingly, for all those attempting to rail road through this most controversial and dangerous of projects, the welly wearing farmers have produced community leaders with highly sophisticated and articulate attributes. It was the welly wearing farmers of Omagh, Greencastle and Donegal who blew the establishment out of the water on Wednesday morning in Omagh. They have left the British Government and Stormont Executive with a conundrum it would appear they do not have the expertise or intellectually capacity to either solve or deal with. As with Brexit it will be Europe who will come up with the solutions. It may be wise to include the welly wearing farmers of the North West of Ireland in any future deliberations.

What is being consistently exposed through the short tortuous hours of the planning inquiry is the failure of the neo-liberalist approach to planning. The concept of light touch regulation has created critical problems and threw up deep lying inconsistencies in planning and constitutional law. The gold mining executives in Toronto and New York have realised that their ‘wild west’ attitude to planning and the environment does not sit well when confronted with intelligence and sophisticated competitive actions. One campaigner stated on Wednesday that the planning application should be buried in the bog it aims to destroy. One thing is for certain – ignorance and hubris will never solve an intractable problem.

⏩Mick Collins is a trade union co-ordinator and analyst from the North West of Ireland.

An Essay On The Welly Wearing Farmers Of West Tyrone

Ciaran McClean ✉ with a letter recently published in the Ulster Herald.

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.

Sperrins Inquiry Needed

Ciaran McClean ✉ with a letter recently published in the Ulster Herald.

A recent report from Stormont showed DUP MLA Thomas Buchanan initially denied sharing private and confidential information relating to a Dalradian gold story when investigated by The Standards Commissioner.

The Standards and Privileges Committee at Stormont found Mr Buchanan had indeed breached MLAs Code of Conduct rules and punished him accordingly. 

His wasn't the first example of politicians advocating for the same company. Whilst they might not wish to admit it, some years ago Sinn Fein signalled, via The Financial Times, that Greencastle in the heart of the Sperrins was a sacrificial zone where investors could get a handsome return betting on industrialising the area. They have yet to account for doing so. The less said about the SDLP and Ulster Unionists the better such is the integrity free reputation their local reps enjoy on anything goldmine related. 

Ironically, the long awaited public inquiry into goldmining scheduled for September 2024 has been suspended, disappointing those in a hurry to cash in on the area of outstanding beauty. Departments obliged to progress the delayed proposal along with political parties will by now understand that the law will dictate the process going forward, not their political horse trading or civil servants peddling untruths as they did in the Strule Arts centre and which caused the public inquiry suspension. 

Unethical Investors salivating at the prospect of a mining boom in this part of Ireland should also know a hard truth by now too - try to profit on that which sustains a rural community like Greencastle and you'll need more than the assistance of politicians with the same values as yourselves.

⏩Ciaran McClean campaigns against the rape of the Sperrins.

Unethical Investors Salivating

Ciaran McClean ✉ with a letter recently published in the Ulster Herald.

The radio silence from local politicians since the Preliminary hearings into the Public Inquiry into goldmining has been deafening.

Not one political representative from any Party in West Tyrone made a contribution at the Preliminary hearing in March, instead leaving it up to honest citizens to make well researched representations. 

In the face of their workshy chicanery I have written to the Northern Ireland Audit Office to alert them to the huge waste of public funds around the now legally dubious public inquiry. Wasting public funds is morally repugnant at any time, never mind a time of need. 

There is another "need" however. The gravy train every MLA, MP and Cllr is riding needs pulled up pronto. Grifting in a dream like state the no show reps believe themselves too big to fail whilst under the protection of a corrupt British establishment. That's a dangerous place for any Nationalist, Unionist or Alliance politician to find themselves regardless of their mandate.

⏩Ciaran McClean campaigns against the rape of the Sperrins. 

Gold And The Gravy Train

Ciaran McClean ✏ with a short perspective written after he attended the recent preliminary hearings into goldmining in the Sperrins.

At the recent preliminary hearings into proposed goldmining in the Sperrins Fermanagh and Omagh District Council were represented Corporately. 

Why FODC Councillors refused to serve a stop notice on the international goldmine company, Dalradian, as their licence expired some years ago, wasn't made clear at the event. Had Cllrs done so Dalradian would have been gone already, their compound decommissioned and no public inquiry required. 

In a less transparent system in Northern Ireland citizens have come to expect little from politicians and are rarely disappointed. In this instance it's they who will effectively pay thrice for the pleasure of doing the work of politicians on all things goldmining. Once, for an inept public inquiry through their taxes, once when hiring legal firms to counter mining company propaganda and once in shoe leather, campaigning everywhere they can. 

Why political representatives refuse to fulfill their duties to protect all that sustains this part of Tyrone is a question only they can answer but as RHI, the poisoning of Lough Neagh and multiple other environmental disasters shows, Councils, Stormont or their representatives cannot be depended on.

From Department Officials exposed as amateurs when asked simple procedural questions, to learning that goldminers are allowed to present their own Environmental Impact Assessments without independent scrutiny, to PSNI Officers hiding behind curtains side stage in a covert manner - the Planning Appeals Commission hearing was a fiasco from the get go. 

 A reasonable assessment of the preliminary hearings into goldmining would conclude it's the public who need protection from the State and it's political agents, not the other way round.

⏩Ciaran McClean campaigns against the rape of the Sperrins. 

Sperrins ⛰ Protect Public From Golddiggers

Ciaran McClean ✉ with a letter recently published in the Ulster Herald.

In January an appeal was made through the Ulster Herald for Sinn Fein members to lobby their leadership not to visit Washington on St Patrick's Day given President Biden's endorsement and enabling of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. 

As they prepare for the airport that appeal appears to have fallen on deaf ears whilst American weapons of mass destruction continue to erase all living things in the region.

Closer to home the Irish Government suffered an embarrassing referendum defeat trying to be too clever by half with it's citizens last week. SF too had urged a tá, tá vote also spectacularly misreading the mood of the country. 

Like the main opposition Party in England, SF's electoral fear of conservative middle Ireland is offending everyone aghast at the American/Israeli genocide. The referendum result showed Irish citizens want honesty from politicians, those in power and those who seek it. 

Any Government in waiting worth its salt needs clear blue water between itself and the status quo - St Patrick's Day is red letter day for SF in that context.

⏩Ciaran McClean is supporter of Palestinian rights.

Red Letter Day

Ciaran McClean ✉ in a letter to the Irish News on 22-January-2023 reiterates the points made in an earlier letter to the Ulster Herald.

As Sinn Fein prepares for a trip to the Whitehouse in a few short weeks the vast majority of citizens on the island of Ireland are horrified at such a prospect. 

In what must be regarded as one of the greatest crimes in modern history over 10,000 Palestinian children in Gaza have been obliterated by American supplied munitions in 100 days, whilst the overall death figure of civilians creeps towards 30,000. 

Sinn Fein fly Palestine flags from their offices around the country. One can assume from that action they don't wish to be associated with WMD supplier, Joe Biden, yet their stated intention is to do exactly that, why? 

As the largest party in Ireland every Sinn Fein member and elected representative are morally obligated to act for the good of humanity. They can do that by publicly lobbying their own leadership to forgo the St Patrick's Day celebrations in Washington this year. By doing so they can let the American Government/people understand what Irish people think of Biden's false claim to encompass Irish values. 

Sinn Fein will find a majority of the Irish public will be on their side if they oppose the USA but to wring hands, fly flags and tacitly endorse the trip will be regarded as unforgivable by current and future generations. 

A real and pressing opportunity exists to bring global attention to the ongoing destruction of the Palestinian people. It's in the gift of Sinn Fein to galvanise the rest of the Party up and down the country and strike a blow for humanity.
 
⏩Ciaran McClean is supporter of Palestinian rights.

Sinn Fein Should Forgo Washington

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