TV star Declan Donnelly has backed a campaign to protect the home of his Irish family from gold miners.
Donnelly, one half of presenting duo Ant and Dec, has always been proud of his Irish roots – his parents Alphonsus and Anne moved to Newcastle from Co. Derry in the 1950s.
He has now described proposals to mine the area near the picturesque mountain Slieve Gallion as ‘a travesty’.
“This is such a magical area where my paternal family has lived for hundreds of years and still resides,” he tweeted from the official Ant and Dec Twitter account.
This is such a magical area where my paternal family has lived for hundreds of years and still resides. I have laid stones at it’s summit. It would be a travesty to destroy this wonderful mountain. D https://t.co/piNBThrJFv
— antanddec (@antanddec) September 29, 2018
“I have laid stones at its summit. It would be a travesty to destroy this wonderful mountain.”
Australian company Walkabout Resources are considering mining the area for gold, base metals and energy minerals in a joint venture with British firm Koza.
Donnelly was responding to a tweet from the Protect Slieve Gallion campaign group, who believe mining practices will damage the environment and pose a danger to residents.
