THE Canadian company behind plans for a £750 million gold mine in Co Tyrone have appointed well-known local public relations professional Barry Turley as director of communications.
Dalradian, which lodged plans to build an underground mine at Curraghinalt in west Tyrone before Christmas, announced the appointment of Mr Turley yesterday.
A former senior journalist and producer for both the BBC and RTÉ, he has been involved in strategic communications since the late 1990s and founded Turley PR& Public Affairs in 2012, working with clients including Quinn Industrial Holdings, Manufacturing NI and Norbrook Laboratories.
Mr Turley said the time has come for a "new challenge".
"I grew up in the manufacturing sector and it makes sense that I have come back to it at this stage in my career," he said.
"This is a very exciting time to be joining the company, which late last year submitted a planning application to build an underground gold mine in west Tyrone."
"I was particularly motivated by the positive story they have to tell, in terms of job creation in Northern Ireland. The opportunity to be part of a hugely important job creation project, which will provide highly skilled, well paid and most importantly, sustainable jobs was really too good an opportunity to turn down. I’m very excited and humbled to have been given the chance to work with such an interesting company," he added.
Brian Kelly, managing director of Dalradian said he was pleased to add Mr Turley's experience to the company.
"We are delighted to have Barry join our team, to concentrate on local and international communications and public affairs here at Dalradian. Barry has a long track record of working at the highest level of communications, and decades of experience working in and across many areas of the manufacturing sector."
