Increased Equality
Mobuoy Community Inquiry
What is Mobuoy?
The Mobuoy waste site near Derry/Londonderry is one of the largest illegal dumps in Europe, containing an estimated 1.6 million tonnes of waste. Since its discovery in 2012, questions have persisted over how this was permitted to occur, the adequacy of regulatory oversight and the environmental, public health and social impacts that have followed.
Despite the 2014 Northern Ireland Assembly motion calling for an independent public inquiry, no such inquiry has been held. The state’s response has been limited to internal reviews, criminal prosecutions and remediation plans. As a result, communities have experienced over two decades of uncertainty, distrust and ongoing environmental harm.
Although the 11 March 2014 Northern Ireland Assembly motion was not formally titled as a ‘Mobuoy Inquiry’, it was triggered by revelations at Mobuoy and called for an inquiry into illegal waste disposal across Northern Ireland.
Why a Community Inquiry?
The Mobuoy Community Inquiry project is a civil society-led process designed to simulate the structure and credibility of a statutory inquiry, with the aim of establishing facts, documenting lived experience, identifying failings and recommending actions — while building public and political momentum for a formal public inquiry. The Inquiry will culminate in a final Community Hearing and comprehensive report.
The communities around Mobuoy and the people of the northwest deserve better. In the absence of an official public inquiry, we strongly feel a community inquiry is the best way forward to help get the community’s voices heard.
The project’s steering committee held four consultative and co-design events with members of the public in the areas most affected by the Mobuoy site in November 2025, informing the community-identified priorities that are now embedded throughout the projects plans, aims and goals.
Who we are
This community inquiry is being convened by the following organisations making up the project’s steering committee:
The Gathering
A grassroots movement, empowering and mobilising communities across Northern Ireland to get involved in and positively impact environmental and social issues and concerns. The organisation is made up of volunteers seeking a better, safer, cleaner and more just Northern Ireland.
Friends of the Earth (FoE)
A leading environmental organisation dedicated to protecting the natural world and promoting a sustainable future for all. It fights for environmental justice through grassroots community organising and legal action. Friends of the Earth is part of an international network operating across 73 countries. In Northern Ireland, Friends of the Earth works on issues that are distinctive to the current social, environmental and political situation.
Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ)
An independent human rights organisation with cross community membership in Northern Ireland and beyond. It was established in 1981 and lobbies and campaigns on a broad range of human rights issues. CAJ seeks to secure the highest standards in the administration of justice in Northern Ireland by ensuring that the Government complies with its obligations in international human rights law.
Public Interest Litigation Support (PILS)
A not-for-profit organisation that works to advance human rights and equality in Northern Ireland through the strategic use of law. PILS supports NGOs, lawyers, and community groups to use legal tools for social change by providing expertise in litigation, legal education, and procedural guidance. Through its unique model of collaboration, PILS bridges the gap between civil society and the legal profession, helping to ensure that important public interest issues are properly heard in the courts and other formal settings.
Environmental Justice Network Ireland (EJNI)
A community of practice-connecting interdisciplinary academic researchers, NGOs and environmental lawyers with community campaigners who have emerged over the last decade on the island of Ireland in response to serious environmental governance failures. Its aim is to enhance knowledge about complex environmental and legal issues that exist on the island of Ireland and to use this knowledge to push for meaningful, positive changes that will have a tangible impact on addressing the root causes of environmental and social injustice on the island of Ireland.