The families of people who died or were injured in the Creeslough tragedy are to meet Minister for Justice Helen McEntee this week to discuss their call for an independent inquiry into the incident.
Ten people died when an explosion ripped through the heart of the Co Donegal village on October 7th, 2022.
Those who died were Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe; Catherine O’Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan; fashion student Jessica Gallagher; Martin McGill; James O’Flaherty; Martina Martin; Hugh “Hughie” Kelly; and Leona Harper, aged 14.
A Garda investigation into the possible cause of the tragedy is ongoing and is nearing completion.
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Creeslough families to meet McEntee to discuss call for independent inquiry into explosion
Why is the Creeslough explosion, in which 10 people died, still unsolved two years on?
However, the families of those lost or injured in the incident at the Applegreen service station say they need an independent inquiry to be carried out to ensure that measures are put in place to ensure another “Creeslough” doesn’t happen again.
Last month, on September 26th, a solicitor representing the families of seven of the 10 people who died wrote to Ms McEntee’s office requesting the establishment of a public inquiry.
Speaking on the second anniversary of the tragedy on October 7th last, the Minister said she was happy to meet all the Creeslough families.
Last week the Creeslough Family Support Group, a group representing an estimated 40 people who have been directly affected by the explosion, wrote to the Minister again.
In the new letter to Ms McEntee, the group said their trauma to date has been immeasurable.
“The impact this has had on the families, friends, schools that all create a community after losing 10 people has had a huge impact not only to the Creeslough community but to the people outside of the village and also the county and country as a whole.
“As a group we all have our own questions that we believe are valid. We are supporting the families in their endeavours to understand the series of events that may have led to the suspected explosion that killed ten people,” the letter said.
They expressed their fears that their call for an independent inquiry would be forgotten if a general election was called.
“We are all worried that our prospect for a meeting will be affected by this and we will be seen as a distraction and a problem for the Government going forward.
“We hope this will not be the case and that a meeting will be afforded to us before an election is called and that this meeting will be made a priority.
“We, as a group, respectfully ask that you give this your immediate attention and that you will [get] back to all involved with the confirmation of a date for the meeting requested.”
The Minister’s office replied to the group by arranging a meeting for this week to hear their plea to hold that independent inquiry.
The meeting will take place on Wednesday but a location has yet to be agreed.
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