Prospecting in Connemara - No to mining

It may seem strange in this overheating world to talk about sacred landscapes, sacred refuges.

Those ideas would once, and maybe still in the more expensive, corporate-friendly golf clubs, be dismissed as romantic childishness. But maybe not.

The swing to green politics in the recent EU elections, and, at the other end of the spectrum, the Extinction Rebellion suggest otherwise.

The consequences of our relentless exploitation of the great resources the natural offers and the relentless destruction of landscapes, seascapes, and species that flow from that drill-baby-drill anthropocentrism is questioned as never before — and rightly so.

Connemara is a sacred landscape no matter how harsh, no matter how begrudging it is to those who try to wrestle a living from it.

It is beyond iconic. Yet, consideration is being given to opening it to gold and silver mining.

There are no circumstances under which this should be allowed.

It is time we had the courage, the confidence, and accepted that we are only custodians, and closed this conversation before it gathers any further momentum. Just say “no”.