Treasure Leitrim in Brussels

Treasure Leitrim representative Eddie Mitchell and Emmett McAleer from the Save our Sperrins campaign in Northern Ireland attended an event in Brussels this week organised by the European Environmental Bureau and Amnesty International. While there they met a delegation form Columbia and the Congo and heard first hand testimonies about the devastation caused by the gold mining industry there. The visit and personal accounts of those impacted by the industry is a reminder for communities in the North West and Ireland as a whole about the threats posed by these extractive industries. It is over two years since Minister Eamon Ryan granted prospecting licenses for 47 townlands in Leitrim to goldmining multinational Flintridge Resources.

Eddie Mitchell said “I am hearing devastating personal testimony about family members being killed when activists took a stand against pollution and corruption. We are also discussing the implementation of the new European critical raw materials act which is going to have extremely serious negative consequences for communities in Ireland. It is something that needs to be challenged by our political representatives on a local, national and European level as a matter of urgency”