For decades, the people of West Tyrone have had to travel to distant centres for study and work. Their careers have taken them to Belfast, Dublin and Britain – if not further afield.
That has put pressure on local families. Dalradian aims to relieve some of this pressure by hiring most of our workforce from the local community. This could be as much as 90% of our staff, based on the experience of other mines. Dalradian plans to invest £15 million over three years to assist local people qualify for positions at the mine. That means people will see their families at tea time, rather than waiting for the holidays.
It means more money will be spent in local businesses, boosting employment prospects across the whole of the economy. It’s the start of a virtuous cycle that will make Tyrone’s community stronger.