TV star Dec backs campaign to stop gold mine in ‘magical area’
ONE half of television presenting duo Ant and Dec has lent his support to a campaign to halt a controversial proposal for a mine in the Sperrins.
Declan Donnelly was responding to controversial plans to develop a gold mine at Slieve Gallion in Co Londonderry.
Posting on Twitter, he revealed he has spent time there and described any destruction of the mountain, which helped to shape the poetry of Seamus Heaney, as a “travesty”.
He said: “This is such a magical area where my paternal family has lived for hundreds of years and still resides.
“I have laid stones at its summit. It would be a travesty to destroy this wonderful mountain.”
His response to a request for support on Twitter has been met with delight by local campaigners desperate to stop the proposed mine from going ahead, concerned that the landscape will be ravaged by any such development.
SDLP MLA in Mid Ulster Patsy McGlone thanked the television presenter — who, with wife Ali Astall, has recently had his first child — for the gesture.
Meanwhile, organisers of the Protect Slieve Gallion Twitter page said: “Thanks Declan.
“We will have a big fight on our hands here. Good to know we have you in our corner! Thanks for the support.”
They have set up a petition on Change. org calling for beauty spots around Northern Ireland to be protected from mining. According to the petition, “current mining practices use too many chemicals and cut too many corners, together with our relaxed environmental laws this can only service to destroy this country”.
It continues: “This can only be seen as a short term gain for foreign investors which will inevitably change the lives of our future generations.
“The current Brexit debacle and continued political impasse in Stormont makes this all the more difficult and daunting.
“We the people need to be the driving force behind this.”
In March, Australian mining company Walkabout Resources said it had made “very exciting” discoveries while searching for gold and other precious metals in Slieve Gallion.
The firm has signed a joint venture agreement with Koza UK, which has a mineral prospecting licence for a location around 20km from Curraghinalt, where Canadian company Dalradian wants to develop a gold mine.
It has said analysis of regional data for Slieve Gallion meant it was one of the highest priority areas in Northern Ireland for base metal and gold exploration.
While the company insists the work being carried out on Slieve Gallion is at the embryonic stage, people living in the tiny village of Desertmartin, which sits at the foot of the mountain, have held a series of community meetings in recent weeks attended by hundreds of people concerned about the effects of a mine on the local area.
More than 1,600 people have already signed the petition against the mine.
A spokesman for Walkabout Resources said recently that preliminary exploration work on Slieve Gallion to date has consisted of soil sampling and a limited airborne survey.
He added: “No chemicals of any type are used in the work we are doing. In any area where work is carried out, Walkabout will meet with relevant stakeholders and landowners to inform them of our work.”