Our group represents residents living near the Randalstown/Simonstown Tailings
Storage Facility. Our overall aim is to protect the environment, with particular concern for our children and future generations.

Membership is open to anyone living in the townlands surrounding Navan, all of which are affected by the presence of Boliden Tara Mines and its tailings storage facility at Randalstown/Simonstown.

SENT aims to raise awareness of the potential risks that mining and tailings storage pose to local communities and the environment. We oppose any further expansion
associated with Tara Deep and any proposal to develop an additional tailings storage facility at Sillogue/Simonstown.

2023

SENT was formed in June 2023, building on the work of RATE (Residents Against Tailings), which had been established six years earlier. RATE campaigned against the sixth extension of the Randalstown/Simonstown Tailings Dam. Its campaign progressed to an oral hearing before An Coimisiún Pleanála, but the appeal was unsuccessful and planning permission was granted.

SENT joined CAIM (Communities Against the Injustice of Mining), an all-Ireland network for local communities affected by mining operations or the prospect of mining and SENT members attended the Climate festival in Leitrim in August.

In September and October 2023, SENT hosted four public consultation meetings to identify the main concerns of communities across the wider area surrounding Randalstown Dam. The consultations highlighted five major concerns:

1. Water quality, including the need for independent testing and regulation
2. Health and well-being
3. Dam integrity
4. Environmental impacts, including the loss of hedgerows and biodiversity
5. The long-term legacy of toxic waste from the pond

Other concerns included:
1. Community impacts and limited community awareness
2. Lack of information
3. Lack of trust in Boliden Tara Mines
4. Lack of independent oversight and monitoring

2024

In 2024, SENT established a more formal committee, appointed officers and opened a bank account. We worked with two students from DKIT, Dundalk, who produced a video and designed our brochure.

In June 2024 we invited all candidates for local Council elections to meet with us on
Zoom where we asked for their positions on aspects of our concerns.

At a further public meeting in June 2024 we outlined the progress made over the year and set out priorities under 4 headings with ideas for action towards next steps.

1. Communication;
2. Awareness Raising;
3. Fundraising;
4. Making Formal links

In October, representatives from SENT met with Boliden Tara Mines staff

2025

More regular liaison meetings were organised with Boliden Tara Mines; these took
place in January, May and December.
We received a report on the existing tailings facility, produced for us by a leading UK
hydrologist.

2026

In February, CAIM held its annual gathering weekend at An Tobar in Ardbraccan.
Members of SENT attended and took the group on an information tour of the BTM tailings facility on Sunday morning.

Liaison meetings with BTM continued in March and August.

In April, SENT made a submission to Meath County Council on the TRIDEX tunnel extension and appealed the decision to approve the development to An Coimisiún Pleanála.

In June, the Meath Chronicle published articles about the November 2025 pipeline leak, with contributions from SENT members.

In July and August, SENT members gave presentations to elected councillors in the Kells and Navan areas.