Stormont department 'has slipped up at the starting pistol' over Dalradian gold mine inquiry says former minister

Mark H Durkan, the former environment minister and SDLP MLA for Foyle, made the comments after the proceedings involving mining company Dalradian were halted.

The last hearing, on Wednesday, was told the reason for the delay is that the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) had not properly notified or consulted with authorities in the Republic of Ireland about the inquiry.

No date is set yet for it to reconvene, but it is thought the delay will be around six weeks.

It is just the latest hurdle in an extremely long-running saga surrounding the mine in Curraghinalt, about 12 miles north-east of Omagh.

Dalradian has been exploring for gold at the site since 2009, and applied for permission for a full mine in 2017.

Rather than making a decision, an inquiry into it was ordered in 2020 by the then-infrastructure minister Nichola Mallon.

It opened on Monday in Omagh and was meant to run until late March.

But the woman leading the inquiry, Jacqueline McParland, adjourned it on Wednesday, saying it was “deeply regrettable that members of the Planning Appeals Commission have been put in this position by the inaction of government departments, particularly the planning department of the DFI".

Mr Durkan said: "We were always supportive of an application of this scale and surrounded by this controversy, going to a public inquiry. That's the right way to deal with it.

"But this delay, and the reasons for it, will come as a disappointment to many – particularly those in that locale and community who had the spectre of the goldmnie looming large for a long time now." He said it was "worrying" that "the delay is down to apparent shortcomings on the part of DFI".

"I thought it [the inquiry] would actually drive out room for error from officials, but here they seem to have slipped up as soon as the staring pistol's been fired," he added.

"It's a false start."

Tom Buchanan, DUP MLA for West Tyrone, said: "It's disappointing this delay has come about given it took so long to get the public inquiry commenced.

"It took a number of years getting through all the different organisations – through the department, through the Planning Appeals Commission – in order then to get the public inquiry to where it was."

There had been too much "dragging of heels" already, he said.

Asked if he was in favour of the mine, against it, or undecided, he said: "I'm not opposed to any development as long as it goes through procedure and meets all the regulations that's set down by planning service and the environmental services and the public authorities.

"They submit a planning application, they meet all that criteria, then I'm not against it."

Dalradian aims to extract about 99 tonnes of gold, 48 tonnes of silver, and 15,000 tonnes of copper over the lifetime of the mine, which is expected to be about 25 years.

Dalradian says the mine is expected to employ about 350 people if completed, plus “a further 750 directly and indirectly supported”.

A spokesperson for the Department for Infrastructure said: “Although disappointed at the Planning Appeals Commission decision to suspend the Public Local Inquiry (PLI) the department acknowledges the concerns of the public and Fermanagh and Omagh District Council and accepts there was no alternative but to accept the requests that the PAC should suspend the PLI until further consultation takes place.

"The department acknowledges the principle of public participation should be fully upheld.”