Republic of Ireland Natural Resources Minister Eamon Ryan has announced he has declined to grant Prospecting Licences to two companies seeking to explore for uranium in Donegal.

This signals a wider policy decision to prohibit such activity in Ireland.

Commenting Minister Ryan outlined the reasons behind his decision to prohibit exploration for uranium. "A prospecting license is the first step in the mining process. Granting a license carries an implicit policy agreement permitting its extraction should a viable prospect be discovered. This is where my concern lies.

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"The most likely end use of any uranium extracted in Ireland would be for nuclear electricity generation. It would be hypocritical to permit the extraction of uranium for use in nuclear reactors in other countries, while the nuclear generation of electricity is not allowed in Ireland, and particularly while the Irish Government continues to object to the operation of nuclear power generation at Sellafield and other locations.

"There are also significant environmental and public health concerns surrounding uranium mining, including contamination of ground and surface water supplies and radiation levels."

The Minister concluded: "I have decided, therefore, that as Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources I will not license any prospecting for uranium in Ireland. In this decision we are following the example set by other countries who remain opposed to the nuclear generation of electricity, such as New Zealand."

(JM)