Join Trócaire and the Human Rights Centre at Queen’s University Belfast for this fascinating event where will we hear from two grassroots organisations campaigning for justice in the face of corporate power wielded by mining companies.

This conversation will show how local communities from very different places have come together to defend their beloved environment and fight for their rights.

Representatives of Trócaire’s Guatemalan partner, the Xinka Parliament, will bring their campaign for justice, indigenous rights and the environment to Northern Ireland. The Xinka indigenous people have lived for 15 years under the shadow of a huge Canadian-owned silver mine that threatens their water, cultural identities and ways of life. Over the many, hard years of resistance they have suffered stigmatisation, criminalisation, intimidation and violent attacks, including the murders of several cherished leaders. 

Unfortunately, the case of the Xinka Parliament is emblematic of the violence and impunity inflicted on communities that oppose large multinational corporations the world over. We see this clearly in countries where Trócaire works. Their experience points to the urgent need for binding legal regulations and other effective actions to hold powerful companies to account at global, regional and national levels. They will ask for action to end corporate impunity and, above all, for justice.

We will also be joined by Save Our Sperrins from Co. Tyrone. The group come from a small rural community in the Sperrins Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and have been conducting a campaign against a proposed gold mine ran by another Canadian company which would be built very close to their village. They are local people who are concerned about the environmental damage that would come from the mine and the implications it could have on the health and safety of their community, along with the damage to the beautiful landscape they live in. Save Our Sperrins continue to defend their community in the face of overwhelming odds taking on a multinational mining company.

We will hear about their respective fights for justice and be able to understand more about the common experiences and challenges these two courageous communities are facing while taking on multinational mining companies.