Shining a light on the Sperrins Goldmining Inquiry
Notes from the August 2026 hearing dates now available to view.
The Planning Appeals Commission and Water Appeals Commission have been asked to conduct a Public Local Inquiry into a set of applications relating to the development of a gold mine in the Sperrins.
The Curraghinalt Project consolidated Public Local Inquiry was previously suspended in 2024 and 2025 and restarted in April 2026.
What’s happening now?
Since the very beginning of the Inquiry process, PILS have shared the community’s concerns around the lack of public access to a ‘public’ inquiry that has been described as “unprecedented in the history of the Planning Appeals Commission in terms of its complexity and scale“.
The Planning Appeals Commission is conducting the Inquiry at Strule Arts Centre, Omagh. Because the proceedings are not being streamed, transcribed or recorded, there is no official record.
The hearings have now overrun and further hearings have been scheduled from August through to November 2026.
Given the number of days over which the Inquiry has already run, it is becoming increasingly difficult for local residents and human rights activists to follow the proceedings in Omagh. Some of the local activists have been keeping notes, but they are running out of capacity, particularly those with jobs and caring/parental responsibilities.
How are PILS involved?
PILS are working with two of our NGO members – Act Now NI and Save Our Sperrins – to address some of these accessibility concerns.
We are coordinating a group of volunteer lawyers, asking them to attend the hearings to take a detailed note of the proceedings.
We are incredibly grateful to this team of pro bono lawyers for their commitment and to Act Now NI/Save Our Sperrins for agreeing to the wider publication of these notes in the public interest.
These are not word-for-word transcripts of the proceedings but we hope the notes are useful for anyone trying to keep up with developments at the Inquiry. (PILS supported a similar scheme before the Inquiry was suspended in January 2025, when Cathal Mullan of Harte Coyle Collins took notes.)
Notes from the Inquiry:
We will publish the notes on this page as soon as they are available:
04 August 2026 (morning session)
04 August 2026 (afternoon session)
05 August 2026 (full day)
Disclaimer:
These are not word-for-word transcripts of the proceedings. This note was taken by an independent observer in real time. Transcription errors may be present.
PILS have not edited the notes, other than to correct minor formatting issues or to clarify where text is missing due to inaudibility.
This note of the proceedings before the conjoined public inquiries into the Curraghinalt Project is for general information purposes. It does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal or other professional advice.
PILS cannot guarantee the accuracy of the note; any views expressed during the inquiry by participants are their own.