There is growing concern amongst eco activists north and south of the border about the exploration for natural gas & proposed mining using the technique called fracking.
There are enormous environmental concerns and various groups are holding public meetings about this.
Two licences cover large areas of the north-west and south-west of Ireland – namely Leitrim, Roscommon, Sligo, Cavan, Monaghan and Donegal. Fermanagh is also included in the project; however that, of course, is licensed under a different jurisdiction. A third licence covers an area including Clare, Limerick, Kerry and Cork.
The companies involved in the north-west are Lough Allen Natural Gas Co and Tamboran. In the south-west the company involved is Energi Oil.
There are also areas to the east of Derry and north of Belfast – see http://what-the-frack.org/fracking-map-of-ireland/.
A number of campaigning websites have been set up, including http://www.frackaware.com/wordpress/, http://frackingfreeireland.org/ and http://what-the-frack.org/.
Read more about fracking here – http://www.crystalbard.co.uk/wordpress/?p=743.
You can sign a petition against the practice of fracking here – http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/northern-ireland-no-fracking-required-here/sign.html