NI Agriculture Minister will attempt to block fracking on Department lands in Fermanagh

The North’s Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill says she will attempt to block any plans to use “fracking” on land owned by her department
The Australian mining company Tambornan has been granted a licence to explore for gas in Fermanagh and Leitrim, with the licence covering substantial tracts of forestry land owned by the Department of Agriculture in Fermanagh.
However, if the exploration is succesful and a subsequent licence is sought to extract the gas, Michelle O’Neill has told Garrison based MLA Phil Flanagan that she would not agree to fracking taking place on land owned by the department.
She said she was both “personally and politically concerned” about the process and any potential impact it could have on the environment.