Environmental campaigners praised for holding people 'criminally responsible' for the illegal Mobuoy dump

Derry City and Strabane District councillor Shaun Harkin (PBP) has praised the role of environmental campaigners in holding people "criminally responsible" for the illegal Mobuoy dump. 

"There are illegal dumps all over the North. Lough Neagh has been poisoned by pollution. Raw sewage is dumped directly into our rivers, streams and coastal waters. This includes the River Foyle. 

"The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) was environmental crime. Moy Park has made hundreds of millions, and others have profited massively, as a direct consequence of Stormont's disastrous 'Going for Growth' policy," said Cllr Harkin.

Cllr Harkin also criticised the fact a  judge ruled the "environment wrecking practices" of Dalradian, the "billionaire goldmining corporation" were illegal and 99% of respondents to a public consultation objected to mining licences being granted.

"Nevertheless, the Economy Minister and the Department for Economy still sees fit to dish them out," he added.

The Gathering environmental group welcomes Mobuoy dump company directors' imprisonment

'Questions remain of the regulatroy authority and Public Prosecution Service (PPS) over delays in the prosecution case which saw the judge reduce each defendants' sentence by six months'

Two men jailed for their roles in Derry's Mobuoy superdump

Paul Doherty and Gérard Farmer were jailed following charges relating to the contaminated Mobuoy dump at Campsie

"Profiteering from pollution has been given a greenlight by the Stormont political establishment for decades. It is been treated as an acceptable way to do business. It's the capitalist way. This is why there has been an attempt to bury the issue of Mobuoy since it was first exposed more than a decade ago. This is why there is tremendous resistance to the demand for a public inquiry into Mobuoy dump. This is why there is opposition from Executive Parties for an Independent Environmental Protection Agency. 

"The Stormont Assembly passed a Climate Act but it won't matter as long as profiteering, no matter the cost, by big business is prioritised over protecting our water, land, air and health. 

"The Mobuoy dump ruling is a wake-up call for urgent action to protect our environment and on the need to hold government and polluters to account. 

"Urgent action number one is working with local residents to clean up the mess at Mobuoy."