Pain still ‘very raw’ a month on from Creeslough tragedy

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
Published 8th Nov 2022, 18:02 BST
A month has passed since the explosion that killed 10 people at Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co DonegalA month has passed since the explosion that killed 10 people at Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal
A month has passed since the explosion that killed 10 people at Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal
Irish parliamentarians have paid tribute to the 10 victims of the Creeslough service station blast and the strength of their community a month on from the tragedy.

The names of the victims of the tragedy were read out in the Irish parliament’s lower house, Dail Eireann, as time was set aside to remember the victims of the devastating explosion in the Co Donegal village.

Speaking in the chamber this afternoon, they also praised the work of clergy, locals who tried to help those trapped in the blast rubble, and first responders at the scene.

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Minister for Agriculture and Donegal TD Charlie McConalogue said that the moment at 3.18pm on October 7 would be “etched into the souls of the people of Donegal for generations”.

He said: “Each of our emergency services working with local people were heroic in their efforts. They risked their own lives to save those in Creeslough.”

He also paid tribute to the cross-community response, as well as the digger driver who worked late into the night without taking a break to help with the recovery efforts.

Mr McConalogue described Father John Joe Duffy as “a tower of strength” with the priest himself saying he has sought counselling and encouraged others in the community to do the same.

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"Numbness and shock is beginning to ease and it's becoming all the more apparent the reality of what we have faced and are facing," Father Duffy told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme.

The road that the service station is located on remains closed, but Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan told the Dail that they would do everything “to help restore that connectivity”.

Sinn Fein TD for Donegal Pearse Doherty said: “The grief felt by their families in the community of Creeslough is the grief of this nation, and indeed, beyond its waves. Their loss is the loss for the nation.”

Labour leader and TD Ivana Bacik said: “The question of ‘what if’ may be in the back of our minds, and the one thing that may come out of any report and any investigation is that we might find recommendations that could be applied to prevent any such similar terrible event or incident reoccurring,” she said.

The incident is being treated as a tragic accident, with a gas leak believed to be one theory.