Never miss a thing from Belfast and beyond - sign up for FREE updates direct to your email inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Belfast's picturesque hills are in the sights of oil and gas prospectors hoping for access to 1,742km of Northern Ireland.

The two fossil fuels have never been commercially extracted in the region, with Department for Economy saying any potential find could negate the need for imports.

But Chair of Belfast City Council’s People and Communities committee, Michael Collins, said any plans to drill for oil or gas here “fly right in the face” of sustainable development and the climate catastrophe.

The People Before Profit representative said: “There’s an application in to drill for oil in an area of over 1000km. It encompasses the whole surrounding area of Lough Neagh right up to West and North Belfast.

“It was put out for consultation to councils because there is no minister.

“We had it in committee on Tuesday and it was recommended by council management to go along with it, but the committee unanimously voted it down.

“It is still to be ratified in the full council meeting, but we are fairly confident.”

Councillors representing Alliance, People Before Profit, the Green Party, Sinn Fein and the DUP all voted against the prospecting licence from the Duke of Abercorn’s son, Lord James Hamilton.

He, Melvyn Ennis and Hashem Arouzi have applied for the petroleum prospecting licence from Department for Economy through their company EHA Developments, which is based at Baronscourt, Newtownstewart.

A second application covering an area of Fermanagh that includes Upper and Lower Lough Erne is also being considered on behalf of Australian oil and gas firm Tamboran, which previously failed to win a fracking licence in the county.

“We just think it’s a reprehensible proposal and we need to be looking at more environmentally sustainable means of energy,” added councillor Collins.

“This would be a massive set back and we really believe that fossil fuels should remain in the ground.

“We have to look at creating a more environmentally sustainable city - and this would just fly right in the face of that.

“It’s really worrying because there has been a concerted effort over the last couple of years for a number of proposals to be steam rolled through with no Executive.

“We have seen the Dalradian gold mine, a proposal for a nuclear waste dump in the Mournes, we’ve had the fiasco with Mobuoy Dump and Woodburn.

“This has all been in the last couple of years and it really goes against public opinion on these questions now.

“We really should be looking at ways of investigating in green energy instead of reverting back to fossil fuels, which really is a thing of the past and should be consigned to the dustbin of history.

“We think it’s really crucial that Belfast City Council takes a stand on this issue.”

Department for Economy issues prospecting licences in line with legislation written in 1964.

If granted, the petroleum licences allow firms “to explore for, bore for and get” petroleum in Northern Ireland without any environmental assessments.

The application covering Belfast includes the whole of city wards Andersonstown , Beechmount, Falls, Ladybrook, Poleglass, Turf Lodge, Ballygomartin, Blackstaff, Clonard, Falls Park, Lagmore, Twinbrook , and Shaw’s Road areas.

DfE said in paperwork handed to the council that they cannot take a decision on such licences without a minister in place, but a number of mineral prospecting licences have been issued by civil servants.

The Department for Economy has been contacted for comment.

How to follow us on social media Here's our main Belfast Live Facebook page. On Twitter, you can follow our account by clicking here. If you're a lover of photos, then check out our Instagram. We've also got dedicated Facebook pages for North, South, East and West Belfast, as well as courts and crime. Sports fans can find all the latest local action over on our Belfast Live Sport Facebook and Twitter and also on Match Online on both Facebook and Twitter.

Keep up-to-date with all the very latest news, what's on, sport and everything else in Belfast and beyond with the Belfast Live app.

Only select news that interests you by picking the topics you want to display on the app's homepage. Plus, our enhanced user experience includes live blogs, video, interactive maps and slick picture galleries. Download it now and get involved.

Click here to get it from the App Store or here for Google Play .