Liz Kimmins open to dialogue on Grand Central Irish language row after 'laughing stock' comments
Liz Kimmins open to dialogue on Grand Central Irish language row after 'laughing stock' comments from judge
GARRETT HARGAN, Belfast Telegraph, September 13th, 2025
Stormont's Infrastructure Minister has said she is willing to engage in dialogue over bilingual signage at Grand Central Station after stinging remarks from a High Court judge who branded the Executive a “laughing stock”.
On Thursday, Mr Justice McAlinden called on ministers to enter discussions over the inclusion of Irish language signs instead of spending vital public money on a legal battle.
Putting back a challenge mounted by loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, he declared it a test for the power-sharing administration to demonstrate political consensus can be reached on issues of dispute.
Sinn Fein's Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has responded to the criticism.
“I note the comments of Mr Justice McAlinden and agree it could be worked out through dialogue — something I have attempted to do on more than one occasion,” she said in a statement yesterday.
“I remain willing to do so and believe this is the best way to avoid legal action and the unnecessary use of public funds.
“The position has always been that my decision to provide bilingual signage is entirely consistent with my responsibility as Minister for Infrastructure.
‘An all-island transport hub’
“Grand Central Station is an all-island transport hub and visibility of the Irish language is important in delivering an inclusive and welcoming environment for all our people.”
Justice McAlinden stated: “We need as a society to have a grown-up Executive that works together, not adopting a silo mentality and throwing brush shafts into each other's spokes for political gain.
“It's not working…we are being regarded as a laughing stock.
“We have moved on from killing each other, but we haven't moved much further from that.
“We owe it to our children… to work together in a constructive manner.”
Mr Bryson is seeking to judicially review Ms Kimmins' decision to approve the installation of Irish signs at Grand Central.
He claims the decision to allocate £150,000 for the train station project was so controversial and cut across other Stormont Departments that the issue should have been brought to the Executive Committee for discussion.
By failing to take that step Ms Kimmins breached the Ministerial Code, Mr Bryson contends.
DUP Communities Minister Gordon Lyons has already been granted permission to intervene proceedings based on his opinion that the decision was cross-cutting.
Trilingual logo taken off letters by minister
JOHN MANLEY, Irish News, September 13th, 2025
THE DUP-run Department for Communities has been accused of marginalising minority languages after dropping a trilingual logo from its branded letter heads on most official correspondence.
Fresh guidelines published by the department this week state that Irish and Ulster Scots will only be used where the subject matter relates to either, or when issues of culture and identity are addressed.
The Irish News has also seen correspondence from the private office of Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, head of the department responsible for developing language policy, which shows that he began using an English-only letter head in July, where previously it would’ve been trilingual.
The move has echoes of former education minister’s Peter Weir 2016 decision to adopt a policy which made clear that “the principal language is English”.
Around the same time his party colleague and then agriculture minister Michelle McIlveen changed the name of her department’s fisheries protection vessel from the Irish Banríon Uladh to Queen of Ulster.
Mr Lyons’ department has said only that its guidelines include “a single language logo, an abbreviated single language logo and a refreshed trilingual language logo which is used when correspondence relates to Irish or Ulster-Scots language, identity or culture”.
The policy is understood to extend to application forms and other official documents which previously featured the trilingual letter head.
‘Petty and spiteful’
The change has been described by Irish language advocacy group Conradh na Gaeilge as “simply petty and pitiful”, while Foyle MLA Mark H Durkan called on the minister to “clarify the reasoning behind this”.
The SDLP representative said he had already raised the issue with the minister. “Irish language speakers and the Ulster Scots fraternity have a right to know why this measure – designed to show inclusiveness to all traditions has been deemed unnecessary,” he said.
“Language rights have been hard won after many years of campaigning and the last thing we need to see ahead of the appointment of Irish language and Ulster Scots commissioners is the marginilisation of minority languages.”
A Conradh na Gaeilge spokesperson said it appeared the minister with responsibility for Irish was “seemingly taking deliberate steps to erode and erase the language from his department’s corporate identity”.
“Regressive, anti-Irish moves like these simply reinforce the perception that the DUP are deliberately attempting to obstruct the progress of Irish, and where possible, remove it from public view, which is in direct contravention of their ministerial obligations under the European Charter for Regional Minority Languages and commitments set out in the Irish Language Act,” the spokesperson said.
“This is the same minister supposedly responsible for developing an Irish language strategy on behalf of the executive, who is intervening to block Irish language signage at Grand Central Station, all in the same month where we await his party to jointly announce the appointment of our very first Irish language commissioner.”
Inequalities driving endemic levels of drug use says GP
Irish News, September 13th, 2025
A GP in west Belfast has spoken of the devastating impact that health inequalities are having on his patients and why some practices are considering turning away from the NHS.
Dr Michael McKenna has been at the Thames Street Surgery on Falls Road since 2022.
He spoke to The Irish News after the latest report on health inequalities, which made clear how populations in the most deprived areas are suffering.
This includes drug misuse deaths being six times more likely compared to the least deprived areas.
Health life expectancy also remains around 14 years lower in these areas, while respiratory deaths in the under 75s was three-and-a half times more likely.
Mental health indicators showed that prescriptions for mood and anxiety disorders were two-thirds higher, while the suicide rate was almost three times as high and growing.
Suicide rates three times higher
“You have people in one part of Belfast whose life outcomes are hugely different from those living two miles away,” he said.
“Deprivation is the indicator that separates them. It’s not just life expectancy, but life quality.
“If you live in a deprived area, you’re more likely to smoke and drink heavily. Potentially be impacted by drugs, which is becoming more and more ubiquitous.
“That’s because deprived populations seek solace in medication to help cope with their everyday stresses.
“That impacts on their physical wellbeing, so you see more overweight people and with diabetes and high blood pressure.
“If you’re smoking or living in the city, you’re more likely to develop COPD. So you have all these factors working against you. “You’ll also see increased rates of cancer and people will die younger.”
Drug misuse deaths are six times more likely in Northern Ireland’s most deprived areas
Asked about the Health Minister Mike Nesbitt’s ‘Live Better’ to improve outcomes in deprived areas, he said: “I’ve seen zero impact. There is talk about starting that work but the good ideas and intentions don’t follow without resources on the ground.”
“Drug misuse has escalated to almost endemic proportions in deprived areas. Our young people have significantly more exposure to medications and illicit substances, even people coming into middle age.
“So 10-15 years ago, the big issues were primarily with alcohol misuse. But now more often than not, people are taking other substances along with the alcohol.”
He said other problems associated with drug use included more people suffering with hepatitis B and C, HIV infections from needle sharing.
“You have the impact of people using crack cocaine that we haven’t seen before, the impact on your respiratory tract that snorting cocaine has.
“People are attending us with impact on their nasal passages because of cocaine misuse.”
Dr McKenna said more young men in particular were dying because of cocaine being used along with alcohol and anabolic steroids.
Leaving the NHS
A month on from when GPs in Northern Ireland announced collective action over a contract dispute with the health minister, Dr McKenna said some of his colleagues are considering whether they should break away from the NHS and adopt a fee-paying model.
“We’re still getting into the whole idea of what it means to be undertaking this collective action.
“Summer holidays may have impacted in getting it off the ground, but most are looking to do things like keep daily patient numbers to safe levels of 25.
“That can be difficult to refuse the 26th person, but it can also educate patients in other ways to deal with their problems that often aren’t best dealt with the GP.
“It’s all about trying to reduce the amount of extra work coming to us that we were never supposed to do, like managing complex wound dressings, ordering ambulances for patients.
“All of those things that have simply been given to GPs without actually providing funding or even having a negotiation over whether it’s appropriate.”
Dr McKenna said there was little sign of efforts to renew negotiations, and that “a very difficult relationship” between general practice and the Department of Health remained.
“The minister says he’s not prepared to do anything in the current year. The latest income figures show GPs in Northern Ireland are the worst remunerated compared to other countries, almost 20% less than England.
“There’s also a groundswell of opinion coming from GP colleagues about removing themselves entirely from NHS based contracts entirely and moving to a fee-based services.
“It may be a mixed offering, similar to the Republic or in France, Spain and the Netherlands.
“I can 100% say that all GPs believe in the philosophy of the NHS being free at the point of delivery.
“But when the margins are being squeezed and you have no options of increasing costs.
“When you have the potential of the chancellor increasing national insurance contributions, that will squeeze surgeries even further, we are being left with little option.”
The BMA’s Northern Ireland council chair, Dr Alan Stout, said the report “should shock us all,” calling for a cross-departmental approach to tackle the underlying causes.
Commenting this week, Mr Nesbitt said the inequalities report made him more determined than ever to make a difference, and that his ‘Living Better’ programme reflected his efforts to bring services as close to people’s door as possible.
The SDLP backroom ‘fixer’ who took centre stage
Mark Durkan was a key architect of the Good Friday Agreement who went on to lead his party and serve as Deputy First Minister. He spoke to Pat McArt about a life in politics.
Irish News, September 13th, 2025
WHILE he’s no longer in elected office, Mark Durkan is still the quintessential careful politician, warning me from the outset he wasn’t up for ‘all that from the couch stuff’ about his life, and indicating that he didn’t really want to get into personalities or talk about his personal life.
And then, after two hours of interview, as the former Deputy First Minister walked out of the door of the Grianan Hotel, just over the border in Donegal, he turned back to me and said: “Hi Pat, you were asking about (former First Minister David) Trimble, let me tell you this one.”
And off he goes with this story: “One day after an Executive meeting, Martin (McGuinness) walks over to me and says, ‘How do you work with that man? He claims to be a big opera fan but I can tell you he’s not.’
“I asked Martin what was the problem.
“He said that he had gone over to Trimble and offered him a CD of an opera singer. Trimble just looked at it.
“I asked ‘Who was the singer?’ and he replied that it was Andrea Bocelli. And I then asked what Trimble had said when handed the CD.
“He said ‘That man is no opera singer… he’s nothing but a popular performer’.”
And Mark laughed uproariously as he recalled the exchange.
As you may have already guessed, there are at least a couple of Mark Durkans.
There is the serious, often intense politician whose grasp of detail is legendary, and then there is the private Durkan who can be hilariously funny.
However, what is beyond clear is that Durkan was a huge political player for many years, first as an adviser and constituency worker for John Hume, then as chair of the SDLP, soon followed by election to the Assembly, then as Deputy First Minister, and later as Foyle MP and leader of the party.
Born in 1960, Durkan was only 10 months old when his father, an RUC inspector, was killed in a road accident.
The family, then based in Armagh, moved back to Derry, the home place of both his parents, and he was raised with his six siblings in the Pennyburn area of the city.
He says there was no particular emphasis politically that he can recall growing up, except that he remembers when local businessman Luke Hasson stood as an independent against the unionist candidate and he was – aged about seven – engaged to stir the paste to be put on the election fly-posters.
Anyway, after getting past very tight security, I met John on the stairs and he started to show me the splendour of Dublin Castle, pointing in particular to a big chair which he said was King Billy’s throne. And then he said, ‘Judging by the size of that chair, he must have had a huge arse’, so it wasn’t exactly the normal guided tour
He adds: “I remember too around that time hearing the names Gerry Glover (then the hardline unionist leader of Derry Corporation) and Gerry Fitt and I thought gerrymander was just another man’s name.”
But, young as he was, he knew the times they were a-changing.
The Pennyburn area was growing rapidly, so much so that the local St Patrick’s PS had to become a dual school – they could only accommodate some kids in the morning and then others in the afternoon.
Housing, facilities and infrastructure all across Derry were totally inadequate for the city’s growing nationalist population.
And resentment about the sectarian policies of both the city corporation and Stormont was at boiling point.
A few short years later, Bloody Sunday was to prove the point of no return.
Against this background the young Durkan was sent to St Columb’s College, to be followed by entry to Queen’s University in Belfast.
Whilst studying politics and philosophy he got involved in the students’ union and he later moved to Dublin when he became vice-president of the Union of Students in Ireland.
Sharing house with Joe Duffy
His claim to fame here is that he shared a house with the president of the union at the time, a man who went on to become one of the most famous broadcasters in Ireland, Joe Duffy.
By this time he was looking around at what was happening, so he was up for a change in direction.
“In the 1980s the hunger strikes were on, and politics getting way more divisive, more polarised. I remember thinking whatever criticism you had of the SDLP – maybe they were not red enough, or not green enough – they were, at least, giving reasoned arguments for their positions.
“I had become involved with some people active in the party back then so I took a sabbatical in 1983 for a couple of weeks to help out John Hume as he ran for the newly-created Foyle constituency.”
It was, he admits, nothing serious in terms of a career plan. He really only did it for the experience.
“I didn’t expect anything to emerge from that but some time later, I was back in Dublin when I got a call at our cramped little office and I remember Joe Duffy handing me the phone, saying Hume was on the line looking for me. He asked me to meet him later than evening at Dublin Castle where the New Ireland Forum was meeting.
“I presumed he wanted me to make a submission on behalf of USI or something like that.
King Billy’s arse
“Anyway, after getting past very tight security, I met John on the stairs and he started to show me the splendour of Dublin Castle, pointing in particular to a big chair which he said was King Billy’s throne. And then he said, ‘Judging by the size of that chair, he must have had a huge arse’, so it wasn’t exactly the normal guided tour.
“He also introduced me to another senior figure in the SDLP, Austin Currie, who was one of the founders of the civil rights movement, and then someone came up to John with a bunch of papers and he hurried off. I was sort of left standing. Austin Currie must have noticed, because he turned round to me and remarked, ‘You’ll have to get used to that working for John.’
“He had let the cat out of the bag, that I was being offered a job.”
Durkan started working for Hume on St Valentine’s Day in 1984 – and maybe it was appropriate, as there was already a young woman working there, Jackie Green, who was to become Mrs Mark Durkan some years later.
He quipped: “I always said to John he was good at working relationships.”
As previously mentioned, Mark’s grasp of detail is phenomenal, and it was to prove a massive asset to the SDLP during the tortuous negotiations leading up to the Good Friday Agreement.
Hume might have done the big picture strategy, but the detail was often left to his young acolyte. Hume openly admitted this on several occasions.
So, was it he who came up with the concept of First Minister and Deputy First Minister?
“Yeah, that’s true. It is the curse of the architect, having to work within something you designed yourself.
“The reasoning here was that the two leaders would be accountable to the Assembly. I didn’t think it was a good idea that people were appointed to office, but that they should be elected by the Assembly members.”
So, how did he find working with Trimble?
Trimble under pressure
“He could blow hot and cold, could go from grumpy to giddy in seconds, and vice versa. He was gauche, temperamental. But, to be fair to him, he was operating under awful pressure.
“I remember sometimes he would disappear off to London for days and I wasn’t happy about that. I wondered was he interested at all in what we were trying to achieve at Stormont. I only learned from him some months before he died that the reason he went to London so often was to keep his MPs on board. They were the real power-brokers in the UUP.” And Paisley?
“When I was minister for finance I had to deliver this budget and it was touch and go if it would get through because the unionists weren’t happy. Paisley asked to speak to me, told me he had to take Eileen (his wife) to a function and if he got back in time he would support it. Obviously, if he didn’t, the whole thing was going to collapse.
“So, everyone kept wondering why I kept talking for hours that day. I had to wait until he came back into the chamber. And as John said to Secretary of State Patrick Mayhew years before, he was certain Paisley would cut a deal if he could be ‘Number One’. That was Paisley.”
And what about his mentor, Hume?
“He was so driven, so creative, and he had the great gift of being able to work with a whole host of very different people.
“He built up a massive rapport with Irish America – Ted Kennedy, Tip O’Neill, Daniel Moynihan, Chris Dodds, Governor Carey etc.
He had a great relationship too with the Irish Embassy staff in Washington which was led by Jim Sharkey, a Derry man.
“He built relationships with Charlie Haughey, Garret FitzGerald. He was instrumental in getting British Secretary of State Peter Brooke to say publicly that Britain had no selfish or strategic interest in the island of Ireland. And his role with Gerry Adams and Fr Alex Reid in bringing about the ceasefire and peace is a matter of historical record.”
Durkan lost the Foyle seat to Sinn Féin in 2017. When asked if he thought that Hume’s embrace of Sinn Féin was the catalyst for the SDLP’s electoral decline, he refused to engage on that.
“I don’t go for this ‘woe is me’ analysis. When the talks for the Good Friday Agreement were at their most intense, Sinn Féin swung all the media and political attention on to themselves in a very clever way. Would the republicans agree to peace? Would the IRA disarm? Would there be a split? They played it for all it was worth.
“All the attention went to them and it gave them a platform to build their party, which they did. That’s reality. That’s politics.”
While Durkan is no longer engaged in active politics, his contribution to the peace process has been widely acknowledged by many of the key players. His integrity, intellectual ability and civility have also been recognised.
Behind the scenes he’s now active in promoting the Hume Foundation, which was established to inspire and support leadership through peaceful change.
However, it would seem he’s unlikely to return to front line politics any time soon.
Family and friends’ tribute for Leo Norney, shot dead by Black Watch regiment
CONNLA YOUNG CRIME AND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, Irish News, September 13th, 2025
AN “innocent” Catholic teenager shot dead by the British army 50 years ago will be remembered by family and friends this weekend.
Leo Norney was killed at Ardmonagh Gardens in Turf Lodge minutes after getting out of a taxi and being questioned by members of the Black Watch regiment on September 13 1975 – 50 years ago on Saturday.
The British army later falsely claimed the teenager was one of two gunmen who opened fire on them.
A new report into the circumstances of the teenager’s death is now being finalised by Relatives for Justice.
In 2023 a coroner found said he was “entirely innocent” and had been “in the wrong place and the wrong time”.
It also emerged that the soldier who killed Mr Norney, Lance Corporal John Ross MacKay, had intended to “waste someone” on the night the shooting.
MacKay had been convicted of a violent offence and served time in prison prior to the killing of Mr Norney.
He died suddenly in Scotland on the 40th anniversary of the teenager’s death in 2015.
MacKay, who was 62, was also one of five British soldiers convicted in 1977 of planting ammunition in cars owned by innocent civilians.
Leo Norney (17) from west Belfast was shot dead by British soldiers in 1975
Coroner Patrick McGurgan said the killing of Mr Norney was a “deliberate act” adding that other British soldiers had provided false accounts of what happened out of fear of MacKay.
An inquest held in 1976 had returned an open verdict.
Devastating impact
The death of Mr Norney had a devastating impact on his parents Francis and Annie and surviving siblings. His sister Alice spoke of the impact on her father.
“My father died of a broken heart and all the stress with dealing and coping with the way Leo had been killed by British soldiers took its toll,” she said.
Annie, who died on Christmas night 1997, did not live to see the truth emerge.
Irati Oleaga, of Relatives for Justice, said Mr Norney’s inquest “provided the family with a measure of justice and exposed the brutality and dishonesty at the core of Britain’s actions in Ireland”.
Ms Oleaga raised fresh concerns about the British government’s Legacy Act, which ended Troubles investigations.
“If the British government’s legacy act had been in place, this inquest – and the truth it uncovered – would never have come to light,” she said.
“The legacy act is not about reconciliation, it is about hiding the truth, shielding perpetrators, and silencing families.”
She added that Mr Norney’s case “underscores why families must maintain the right to truth, justice, and accountability”.
“The legacy act is an insult to victims, a denial of fundamental human rights, and a deliberate attempt to embed impunity into law,” she said.
The British government has pledged to repeal and replace the Legacy Act.
'Predatory' priest jailed for sexual abuse of five boys he branded liars
TANYA FOWLES, Belfast Telegraph, September 13th, 2025
CLERIC ISOLATED HIS VICTIMS IN PRIVATE QUARTERS AT SCHOOL
A priest found guilty of historical sexual abuse charges against pupils and described as a “predatory paedophile” by a judge, has been jailed.
Appearing before Dungannon Crown Court yesterday, Canon Patrick McEntee was handed a total sentence of seven years.
McEntee was also told he will be subject to sex offender registration for life.
The 71-year-old from Esker Road, Dromore, denied sexual offences against five boys at St Michael's College, Enniskillen, over various dates between 1978 and 1989.
The trial lasted just over two weeks, during which the jury heard there were similarities in how Canon McEntee had taken victims to his private quarters.
The youngest described how the cleric called him into a room and chastised him over his behaviour in class, then touched the boy's genitals, pulled his trousers down and sexually assaulted him.
Canon McEntee sent him off with a warning not to get into trouble again.
About three weeks later, Canon McEntee took him into a study where a similar incident occurred.
On a third occasion, McEntee grabbed him by the arm and said, “You're coming with me”, but this time the victim pushed him away.
Another victim often found himself in detention, which was usually in the college library, but when Canon McEntee was on duty, he took him to his private quarters where he put on classical music and had the boy sit on his knee.
A third victim said his unwillingness to do homework resulted in him being sent to Canon McEntee, and he also described classical music playing.
Canon McEntee sat him on his knee “for a chat” then touched him under his shirt.
The final victim said Canon McEntee “had a habit of taking him to his private quarters” when he was about 13 or 14.
He would have the boy sit on his knee and ask if he'd been good or bad, then smack his bottom.
Canon McEntee denied the allegations, insisting, “None of it happened. It's downright lies... It's not for me to speculate as to their motives.”
Convicted on all but one charge
But the jury didn't agree, taking around four hours to unanimously convict on all but one charge.
Prosecution counsel Sam Magee KC said Canon McEntee had abused boys in his care as a teacher and clergy.
“This was aggravated by his position of power and fears of reporting the abuse,” he added. “There was grooming with treats and deliberate manipulation of children.
“Having secured the silence of the victims, he secured promotion to principal.”
Mr Magee referred to a section of Canon McEntee's pre-sentence report in which he claims there was “a conspiracy amongst his victims. This demonstrates no remorse on his part.”
Defence counsel Gary McHugh KC confirmed an appeal has been lodged against the conviction.
Judge Richard Green said Canon McEntee was seen “by those not being abused by him, as a good and Christian man.”
“In fact, he had a dark and unseen side to him, which he kept hidden from society,” he added.
“The truth is he was a predatory paedophile who facilitated opportunities for abuse by taking them to his private quarters where they were alone and deliberately isolated.”
He said the children should have been safe at school and their promising young lives protected.
Canon McEntee has “shown absolutely no remorse, denies his guilt and intends to appeal. I acknowledge the victims were caused further pain on listening to that in court on his instructions,” he added.
Accepting Canon McEntee is vulnerable and advanced in years, Judge Sherrard nonetheless said, “These offences are so serious only custody is justified.”
In a statement, Canon McEntee's family have said they continue to stand by him and will continue to pursue his “exoneration”.
Following the hearing, PSNI Detective Constable Meehan described McEntee as a “highly manipulative individual” who was able to offend in plain sight and preyed on the innocence of his victims.
He added: “Offending that has happened in the past needs brought to light. If you have been a victim of child abuse, it's never too late to tell someone and report to us.”
Not in any rush... $20bn Tyrone gold deposit Stormont can't decide on
Sam McBride, Belfast Telegraph, September 13th, 2025
FOR EIGHT YEARS, STORMONT HAS BUNGLED AND DELAYED OVER AN APPLICATION TO MINE ONE OF THE WORLD'S HIGHEST GRADE UNDEVELOPED GOLD RESERVES - BUT ONE WHICH IS INTENSELY CONTROVERSIAL IN A RURAL PART OF WEST TYRONE
Despite standing in mud deep beneath the earth, in some ways it's the most opulent place I've ever been.
There's more gold here than in the Palace of Versailles, the Vatican, Buckingham Palace, the Winter Palace and the Tower of London put together.
Standing deep underground at Curraghinalt, huge chunks of a golden substance glisten in the light of our headlamps.
This is, in fact, pyrite — 'fool's gold' — but here it's a double-bluff; within it are huge quantities of the precious metal itself.
This isn't just about gold; this site in the Sperrins is now of geopolitical significance. It contains a host of other minerals for which nations are scrambling because they are critical to modern life.
At the heart of this is the hapless Stormont system which for eight years has been unable to say either yes or no — and in the case of Sinn Fein, has managed to say both at once.
Health and environmental concerns have made this ferociously controversial with a section of the local population. There have been years of protests. Anti-mining signs are unavoidable.
Worth over $20 Billion
The US-based company Dalradian Gold has the money to buy top lawyers, slick PR advisers and expert lobbyists. Thus far, it hasn't bought them success. It's still far from clear whether the £250m it has spent to date will secure permission to dig out gold which is says is now valued at more than $20 billion.
Gold exploration in the area outside Greencastle in Co Tyrone goes back to the 1970s. Exploratory shafts were excavated the following decade but the operation fizzled out.
Dalradian arrived in 2009 with permission to expand tunnels to prove what lay within the earth.
That process was wildly successful, it says. A 2023 report by University of Edinburgh geologist Steven Hollis — who previously worked for Dalradian — described Curraghinalt as “one of the world's largest undeveloped gold mines by grade, and the largest gold deposit in the British Isles by some margin”.
But more than eight years after Dalradian applied for permission to mine, Stormont still can't make up its mind. Bungling by Stormont departments has been central to the delays.
Dalradian's managing director, Brian Kelly, says they expected a decision “within a matter of weeks” or at most a “short couple of years”.
Dalradian's owner — US fund Orion Resource Partners — have built over 80 mines in 50 countries; Kelly says “this is by far and away the worst experience they've had”. When asked if Dalradian's owners (who've changed since the project began) would have come to Northern Ireland if they'd known how things would develop, he says it's a “good question”.
The reason the company has stayed is because of how much it has already invested, and the vast profits it stands to make if given permission.
Standing at vein V75 far beneath the surface, Kelly points to the number beside it — 234 grams per tonne of gold.
He says that typically as little as a gram or half a gram a tonne would be worth the effort.
Up to $100,000 per cubic metre
Not every seam is as rich (Dalradian says the mine averages 13.5g of gold/tonne) but at V75 Kelly says one metre cubed of rock would equate to anything up to $100,000 worth of gold.
There are also large silver deposits and an estimated 15,000 tonnes of copper. It's visible everywhere, seeping through the walls and floor of the tunnels in the turquoise form familiar on the roofs of old buildings after the metal has oxidised.
But that's not all. Dalradian says it has identified significant quantities of rare earths — critical minerals used in everything from batteries to solar panels.
They include tellurium and antimony, of which China is the world's largest producer.
In March, President Trump issued an executive order about the criticality of exploiting US mineral deposits, saying that “our national and economic security are now threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers' mineral production” and such mining — which includes gold — is now a national security issue.
Trump gave US authorities 10 days to identify projects that can be “immediately approved”.
He's not alone. China, Russia and other major nations are desperate for these substances.
Most viable mineral resource in UK
Dr Hollis said the site “represents the most viable source for the UK securing a domestically mined supply of tellurium in the short to medium term”.
The UK's Critical Minerals Strategy promises to make it easier to mine for this. But the desire of central Government is curtailed by the power devolved to Stormont; it has a veto.
Peter Mandelson, who until this week was British Ambassador in Washington, last year wrote to Stormont to press the case for a decision.
Four months ago it emerged that last November senior US politicians urged civil service chief Jayne Brady to ensure that there is “a reasonably timely final decision” to reassure investors that Northern Ireland really is open to business. Awkwardly for Stormont, the letter was covered extensively by the Financial Times, which is read in every major US boardroom.
One name on the letter was highly significant — that of Richard Neal. The veteran Democratic congressman has for decades been one of Sinn Fein's staunchest US allies.
Kelly says the company wasn't behind the letter.
The area in which the deposits sit is a firmly republican area of West Tyrone.
Divided counsels in Sinn Fein
Yet Sinn Fein's stance has been contorted. In 2014, local MP Pat Doherty was quoted by the FT saying that he believed the mine should go ahead, provided that it complied with the law.
Just three years ago, Sinn Fein MLA Caoimhe Archibald criticised the Department for the Economy for giving Dalradian licences, saying there should be “a moratorium on the granting of mineral prospecting licences” until the regulatory framework has been reviewed and amended.
But earlier this year — by now the minister in charge of that department — Archibald approved mineral licences (departmental bungling meant they had to be rescinded) for other companies to search for minerals — excluding gold and silver — across at least three counties.
She did so despite Sinn Fein's council group in Causeway Coast and Glens — part of her own constituency — telling her the system she now oversees is “outdated and not fit for purpose”, and that “Sinn Fein will continue to stand with local communities in opposing these applications”.
Elsewhere on the island, Sinn Fein has been firmly behind mining. When production was temporarily halted at a zinc and lead mine near Navan in 2023, the local Sinn Fein TDs expressed dismay and urged government subsidy of the mine's energy costs.
Mary Lou McDonald demanded the Irish Government do whatever it took to keep the mine operating.
Whenever the Dalradian decision ultimately reaches the desk of Sinn Fein Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins, the politics are going to be messy.
Mining has a filthy reputation but Kelly insists it is now much cleaner than commonly perceived: “Mining is not that dirty a business; it has moved on… what's beyond dispute is that everybody needs mining; everybody needs metals and minerals. If we want to decarbonise, we need metals, we need minerals.”
I put it to him that if local people hadn't objected, his company would be using cyanide at the site. Doesn't the company's dropping of that plan show those people were right?
Kelly insists cyanide would have been safe but that in acknowledgement of local concerns they removed the process. Now, the plan is to take the ore outside Northern Ireland for smelting.
The company also says it has now listened to local people by putting the primary crusher beneath ground to reduce noise and dust, while also replacing truck movements with a conveyor belt to convey the rock out of the mine
Nevertheless, the project would alter the landscape with a vast pile of rock and sand.
The company says this is “effectively a construction material” which could be taken away for use by the building trade but that would involve more lorry movements in a rural area so they plan to just leave it in a huge mound — an “engineered facility”, as it describes it, which would be planted over.
Water treatment plant
Kelly says all water on site would be captured and sent to its own treatment plant. That, he says, would be “the cleanest water treatment system in Northern Ireland” which would be “orders of magnitude greater than any other wastewater treatment plant system”.
He says the water would be so clean it would be purer than drinking water and closer to distilled quality.
Dalradian says it would create many hundreds of jobs, paying average salaries of about £45,000, and would pay about £2billion tax over the roughly two decades-long life of the project.
But local man Martin Tracey says he's campaigning against Dalradian to ensure “the survival of our community”.
A former Sinn Fein voter, he says the party's representatives who spoke to him were enthusiastic about the project. “That's the party we all voted for,” he says without hesitation — but it's in the past tense.
He claims people are “turning their backs on them in droves”. Elections do not bear this out. An anti-mine councillor got elected in the area — but then lost his seat.
Tracey is now questioning far more than just Sinn Fein's stance on the mine; he says as the party changes longstanding policy after longstanding policy it is “now fully embracing the establishment”.
Fellow Greencastle native Michael Conway accuses Sinn Fein of having “sold out their own community”.
He says it has split the local community “massively”.
Other locals support the mine. Earlier this year, local man Gerry Kelly told the Belfast Telegraph that local young people who leave to work in Australian mines could stay in the area if the mine opens.
When asked what he thinks will happen if the mine goes ahead, Tracey says with complete confidence: “It's not going to happen.”
He's now taking High Court action against a Dalradian licence. He declines to say how it is being funded.
I put it to them that some people will view their stance as hypocritical: They're opposing a mine in their area, while using phones, laptops and other electronics containing precious metals which in many cases are likely to have been mined in far worse human and environmental conditions. Tracey says copper is one of the easiest metals to recycle; Conway insists there's more than enough gold in the world already without mining any more.
Real Battle yet to begin
In 2021, Mr Justice Humphreys said in a High Court judgment of a case taken by Tracey that the “real battle” was “still yet to begin” in the courts. Even if permission is granted, there's likely to be years of legal challenges.
Ciaran McClean lives in nearby Omagh. A former Green Party candidate, he sees this as the start of the “industrialisation of the Sperrins”.
He's now out of politics, believing he can better shape public policy by activism, by legal challenges and by other action from outside the political system, saying he now tries “to bypass the politicians”.
“The political system in Northern Ireland isn't fit for purpose. You look at Mobuoy, you look at Lough Neagh, look at all the other scandals where we never seem to learn anything.”
Two weeks ago, Mr McClean's dogged determination led to a significant Freedom of Information ruling.
More than eight years ago, he asked for details of the PSNI's relationship with Dalradian after the police withdrew a £437,610 bill to the company for protecting its explosives.
The PSNI changed its policy and agreed to pay for all such protection of commercial explosives.
The PSNI refused to give Mr McClean details of what had gone on — and then refused to even hand some of that information over to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) so that it could assess it independently.
The ICO then won two legal victories against the PSNI which have compelled it to hand over the information — but that hasn't yet happened.
I asked Kelly about an alternative not yet discussed: That permission is given for the mine to be built but Stormont legislates to demand a much greater share of revenues.
The price of gold has exploded since Dalradian arrived; the company could afford to pay far more in tax while still making huge profits.
I ask if Dalradian would accept Stormont imposing a specific tax on mining in general or gold mining in particular.
He doesn't rule it out, saying they're open to ideas from elsewhere, but questioned if it could be seen to be “buying your planning permission”.
McClean is convinced the mine will never open. Why's he so confident, I ask. “Well, it's the system and how the system now works against itself — not because it wants to, but because it's been forced to. It's now jammed tight and it's not going forward or back.”
See belfasttelegraph.co.uk for Kevin Scott's film from inside the proposed mine.
Appeals by three men jailed for Ian Ogle murder to be heard next year
ALAN ERWIN, Belfast Telegraph, September 13th, 2025
Three men jailed for the murder of Belfast community worker Ian Ogle have secured a date for legal bids to overturn their convictions. Glenn Rainey, Robert Spiers and Walter Ervine claim they were wrongly found guilty of being at the scene and taking part in the killing.
Northern Ireland's most senior judge confirmed today that their appeals will be heard early next year.
Two other men who admitted to roles in the murder, Jonathan Brown and Mark Sewell, are also challenging the prison sentences imposed on them.
Listing the appeals for a three-day hearing in January, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan stressed: “We can't just have these cases hanging in the ether.”
Mr Ogle (45) was beaten and stabbed a total of 11 times close to his home at Cluan Place, east Belfast in January 2019.
Carried out as part of a long-running feud, the fatal attack lasted for 30 seconds. CCTV recordings captured five masked men walking in the direction of Cluan Place on the night of the killing.
A witness described them attacking Mr Ogle with the ferocity of “a pack of hyenas”.
Prosecutors argued that the five defendants were all part of the group of assailants.
Rainey (39) who was living at a caravan park in Ballyhalbert; 42-year-old Spiers, from Millars Park in Dundonald; and Ervine (44) of Litchfield Street in Belfast, were all convicted of murder following a non-jury trial last November.
All three of them were ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years behind bars.
The trial judge branded the killing a pre-planned, revenge vigilante attack carried out on a public street against a single unarmed victim.
But with Rainey, Spiers and Ervine still claiming they are innocent, their lawyers are set to dispute their alleged identification on the CCTV footage.
Further grounds of challenge will be raised against other strands of evidence in the circumstantial case against them.
Brown (40) from Whinney Hill in Dundonald; and 46-year-old Sewell, of Glenmount Drive in Newtownabbey, were each handed 17 and a half year prison terms after they pleaded guilty to murder.
Based on those admissions, both contend that their sentences were excessive.
It is understood that defence representatives will argue there was no intent to kill before they arrived at the scene.
During a preliminary review in the Court of Appeal yesterday, Dame Siobhan urged lawyers to ensure all preparation work is completed in time for the hearing.
She stressed: “I'm not going to stretch (the dates), as it stands this must be workable.”
Taoiseach and PM ‘at one’ over legacy framework
CILLIAN SHERLOCK, Irish News, September 13th, 2025
THE leaders of the UK and Irish governments “are at one” on the pathway for a new framework on the legacy of the Troubles, the taoiseach has said.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hosted Taoiseach Micheál Martin at Chequers in Buckinghamshire yesterday as the two governments continue to hail an improvement in relations following Brexit.
Mr Martin described the bilateral, which also touched on international matters, as “very warm and constructive”.
The Taoiseach said a framework on legacy matters is “very close” but refused to give a timeframe on when the agreement will be announced.
He added: “Very good progress has been made on legacy and the prime minister and I agreed that we are close to setting out a framework to address legacy issues, recognising its importance to victims and survivors, and to the wider community in Northern Ireland and across these islands.”
Speaking to RTÉ after the meeting, Mr Martin said he was “not going to put a time down on it but it’ll be shortly”.
The Taoiseach said Ireland and the UK are “committed to continue working together with the coalition of the willing” to strengthen support for Ukraine and increase pressure on Russia.
Mr Martin said Ireland would be “willing to play a role” in peace monitoring and peacekeeping in Ukraine.
He said there were also other tasks such as demining that could contribute to the maintenance of a ceasefire.
“We’ve been part of many peacekeeping missions around the world where we’ve been effective: Chad, Lebanon, Kosovo; and so, therefore, I think it’s important that Ireland plays its role in terms of any potential peace or ceasefire (in Ukraine).
“At the moment, however, there is no sign that Russia is serious about cessation of the war.”
Mr Martin said he would work with EU colleagues to implement further sanctions on Russia.
He said they also discussed the “catastrophic situation in Gaza”, reiterating his call for the need for a ceasefire, the release of all hostages and a “massive surge in humanitarian aid”.
The prime minister previously met the taoiseach in March, in Liverpool, in a new series of annual
UK-Ireland summits, hailed as the “next chapter” in their relationship after having “turned a page on the turbulent years”.
Mr Martin said they will put “concrete flesh on the bone” on a range of initiatives during the next summit to be held in Ireland in early spring.
In a statement, No 10 said the leaders agreed the relationship between the United Kingdom and Ireland was “very strong and good progress across all areas of the relationship had been made” since Liverpool.
It added: “The prime minister and taoiseach said they were close to setting out a framework to address the legacy issues from the Troubles that continued to hang over victims, survivors and families.
“The leaders agreed to stay in close touch.”
Unionist politicians slam Dublin's record on the Troubles as deal with UK draws near
By Adam Kula, Belfast News Letter, September 13th, 2025
Politicians from the three main unionist parties have all denounced the Dublin government's record on the Troubles as a plan on how to deal with the legacy of the conflict draws nearer.
They made the comments after a meeting between the Irish taoiseach and UK prime minister, in which it was re-emphasised that a deal between the two governments on dealing with the past is close to completion.
The DUP leader Gavin Robinson MP said that "for too long, our government have acquiesced to the outrageous demands of the Irish government whilst never reeling against their interstate case or their lamentable failure to open their archives for the Omagh families".
UUP MLA Doug Beattie meanwhile said that an unwillingness by Dublin to address the Republic's own role in the Troubles has "left many victims’ families struggling to find out how the truth about the murder of their loved one", with the taoiseach "vague and evasive" about what he plans to do about it.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin meeting UK prime minister Keir Starmer at Chequers on Friday for their ‘constructive’ talks
Taoiseach Micheal Martin meeting UK prime minister Keir Starmer at Chequers on Friday for their ‘constructive’ talks
TUV leader Jim Allister MP said the UK government is showing "craven complicity with Dublin" in designing Troubles legacy mechanisms, despite a lack of action on the part of the Irish state over republican crimes in its own territory, and that the more it "boasts" of its talks with the UK government on the issue, "the more it alienates" IRA victims.
Talks have been going on for months regarding some kind of London-Dublin agreement on Troubles issues.
A week ago, Irish deputy leader (tanaiste) Simon Harris had said "we’re effectively there in relation to a deal on legacy", adding that it will involve "commitments from my government in relation to our obligations in our jurisdiction".
Concern that ICRIR could ‘unravel’
Unionists had voiced concern that any deal will allow the Irish government to appoint someone to the panel overseeing the UK's Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR), the body which is meant to unravel many of the unsolved cases of the Troubles.
Now today the taoiseach Micheal Martin has met with Sir Kier Starmer at the UK government retreat of Chequers in Buckinghamshire.
Speaking to the press there, Mr Martin said the two governments “are at one” on the way forward – but would not give details or a timeframe for when a deal will be done, except to say it is "very close".
The meeting, he said, had been “very warm and constructive”.
DUP leader Gavin Robinson said: "For months now, our government and the Irish have trailed that an agreement on legacy is coming. Just round the corner, just one more turn, yet victims are left in abeyance.
"This process has been castigated by families who believe they may have been listened to, but are rarely heard.
"Many regret that for too long, our government have acquiesced to the outrageous demands of the Irish government, whilst never reeling against their interstate case [against the UK over the Legacy Act], or their lamentable failure to open their archives for the Omagh families.
"It would appear that such failure continues.
"It needs to end in a way that honours our victims and their families, asserts our sovereignty, and protects our veterans."
Mr Allister said: “Considering the 'constructive' relationship had with the IRA in facilitating its murder campaign in Northern Ireland through hosting training grounds, safe houses, sanctuary and refusal of extradition, the more Dublin boasts of its role in designing the legacy approach, the more it alienates from their proposals those who were made victims because of its assistance to the Provos.
"If the UK government had any guts and cared for innocent victims, it wouldn’t be in craven complicity with Dublin in shaping Legacy proposals to meet their demands, while the Republic itself does nothing to own up to the blood of soldiers and civilians on its hands.”
And Mr Beattie said: "Again, the Taoiseach has been vague and evasive on legacy, and the absence of any plan from the Irish government to address the legacy of our past and the part that Ireland played in it has left many victims’ families struggling to find out how the truth about the murder of their loved one.
"Few will take the Taoiseach or the Irish government seriously until they start to show that they, along with the UK government, intend to put justice and victims at the heart of any legacy proposals.
"That means seeing more than a timid Memorandum of Understanding between the Irish and UK government - it means seeing robust legacy mechanisms both sides of the border."
