#No.11 Hard-Earned Wisdom from Navan: A Conversation with Nuala and Mairéad Heaney

What is it really like to live beside a mine? In this episode of the Save Our Sperrins Podcast – Voices from the Frontline, we hear from sisters Nuala and Mairéad Heaney of Navan, County Meath. Their family home sits in the shadow of the Randalstown tailings dam — a toxic reservoir that has grown stage by stage since the late 1970s.

For communities across Ireland facing the threat of new prospecting licences and goldmining projects, their story is both warning and wisdom. Nuala, once secretary of Residents Against Tailings Extension (RATE), reflects on years of campaigning and promises unmet. Mairéad, now active with SENT — Saving the Environment of Navan Townlands, explains how she picked up the thread to carry the struggle forward.

From the Greencastle community in the Sperrins to townlands in Donegal, Wicklow, and beyond, people are asking the same questions: what will mining really mean for our land, our water, and our health? The Heaney sisters’ testimony offers a glimpse of that future — and a reminder that communities must stand together if they are to resist.

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LINKS FOR THIS INTERVIEW 

Saving the Environment of Navan Townlands SENT Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/share/1GAi3uDSiH/?mibextid=wwXIfr

SOCIAL MEDIA

https://www.dontmineus.com

https://www.facebook.com/SaveOurSperrins

https://www.instagram.com/save_our_sperrins/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/save-our-sperrins

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/save-our-sperrins-108907

https://www.youtube.com/@SaveOurSperrins 

https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-n32q3-1939c83

LINKS TO OTHER RESOURCES 

http://caimnetwork.org/mining-in-ireland/

Mining in Ireland is a contentious issue, with 19% of the Republic of Ireland and 27% of Northern Ireland’s land area issued in prospecting licences. While mining companies claim to bring jobs and development, communities like those near Tara Mines and Gypsum Ltd have faced significant environmental and social impacts. Communities Against the Injustice of Mining (CAIM) is an all-island network resisting prospecting and extraction.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/after-the-goldrush-by-gerry-mcgovern/id1681123169

Do Irish people know that Ireland has been selected as a Green sacrifice song for the so-called green technology, renewable energy transition from the beautiful wilds of Clare, Wicklow and Leitrim to the outstanding natural beauty of the Sperrin mountains of Tyrone. Rural Ireland is on Big Mining's chopping block.

This podcast is about the power of community, about how communities of Ireland are organising to stop this disaster happening. For short term returns, the government wants to sell Ireland  to mining interests as silently and quietly as possible. Let's make some noises. We will try to unravel why the Irish government is doing this

LINKS TO Greencastle People’s Office(GPO) Facebook Page - and the site of the GPO

 -https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063579042613&sk=about

https://maps.app.goo.gl/Cz7FHdUoi5ByxECz7?g_st=ipc