Tributes paid as names of 10 victims of Donegal explosion released
Leona Harper, 14, Robert Garwe, 50, Shauna Flanagan Garwe, five, Jessica Gallagher, 24, and James O'Flaherty, 48, and (bottom row, left to right) Martina Martin, 49, Hugh Kelly, 59, Catherine O'Donnell, 39, her 13-year-old son James Monaghan, and Martin McGill, 49, the ten victims of explosion at Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday. Picture: PA.
Gardaí have confirmed the names of the 10 people who tragically lost their lives in an explosion in Creeslough, Co Donegal, on Friday.
They continue to investigate all circumstances surrounding the incident.
The full list of those who died in the tragedy is:
- James O Flaherty, 48 years;
- Jessica Gallagher, 24 years;
- Martin McGill, 49 years;
- Catherine O Donnell, 39 years; and her son James Monaghan, 13 years;
- Hugh Kelly, 59 years;
- Martina Martin, 49 years;
- Robert Garwe, 50 years; and his daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe, 5 years;
- Leona Harper, 14 years.
The remains of the deceased are at Letterkenny University Hospital where postmortems have commenced under the direction of Dr Heidi Okkers, assistant State pathologist. These will continue over the next few days. Results will not be released for operational reasons.
One male in his 20s remains in a critical condition in St. James Hospital, Dublin. The seven other surviving casualties continue to receive treatment in Letterkenny University Hospital and remain in stable condition.
The Garda Technical Bureau, with assistance from other agencies, will continue to examine the scene, which remains cordoned off. These examinations are likely to continue over the coming days. Traffic diversions on the N56 at the scene of the incident remain in place.
Garda Superintendent Liam Geraghty said the incident will have a huge impact to a small rural community.
“They are all local people,” he said.
“They are all very much involved in the community. They are all people who were shopping in their local shop.
“We have very, very young children. Schools are going to be impacted. The GAA clubs are going to be impacted.
“The local church and general local community will be severely impacted by this.
“But it is a very strong community.
“The community will come together and will support each other."
Support is also in place for emergency workers.
He said: “It was a very traumatic scene here on Friday afternoon.
“Emergency response right across County Donegal and our colleagues in Northern Ireland responded to a very traumatic scene.
“They were then processed into dealing with the recovery of fatalities at the scene.
“This does have an impact on gardaí who have young children and families themselves, and most of the gardaí here (in the village) are local guards.”
Several masses have taken place on Saturday and Sunday as the community comes together to grieve.
The staff at a local school, Mulroy College, where James Monaghan was a student and Jessica Gallagher was a past pupil, has paid tribute to them and all the victims, including Catherine O' Donnell and Martina Martin, who had children at the school, and were also among the fatalities.
A number of their students were also injured at the scene.
"It is with deepest regret that we advise that two of our students, James Monaghan and Leona Harper, and two mothers of students enrolled in our school, Catherine O Donnell and Martina Martin, were among the fatalities.
"There were also a number of our students who incurred injuries at the scene. Our deepest sympathies are with the families who have tragically lost a loved one following Friday’s incident in Creeslough. We also hope that all those injured will make a full recovery," a spokesperson said.
Principal Fiona Temple said that the entire school community is "devastated."
“We as a school community are devastated on hearing of the tragedy and the fatal outcome for our two beautiful students and our cherished parents. Our thoughts and prayers are with all the families and the Creeslough community at this time," she said.
A critical incident plan was enacted at the school when the tragic news of what had happened reached them.
Students are being offered support by staff in the school, as well as pyschologists from the National Educational Pyschological Service.
Pope Francis has offered his support and condolences to the people of Creeslough in Donegal.
A statement sent to his representative, Bishop Raphor Alexander McGuckian, read:
“His Holiness Pope Francis was saddened to learn of the loss of life and destruction caused by the explosion in Creeslough and he expresses his spiritual closeness to all those suffering in the aftermath of this tragedy.
“While entrusting the deceased to the merciful love of almighty god, His Holiness implores the divine blessings of consolation and healing upon the injured, the displaced and the families coping with pain of loss.
“As a pledge of strength and peace in the lord, the Holy Father sends his blessing to all the people of Ireland.”
Creeslough parish priest Father John Joe Duffy broke down in tears as he recalled giving those who died the Last Rites.
“I was there to pray over them,” he told reporters.
“I knew some of those children through their school and the parish.
“This is unfair, it is unreal.”
Speaking at the cordon of the blast site on Saturday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said there was “deep sadness” in the village and a “terrible silence”, reflecting the enormity of what has happened.
“The entire nation is mourning and deeply saddened,” he said.
“It is a very close-knit community, and our heart goes out to them.”
Many volunteers rushed to the scene to try and do everything they could to help, because it was a horrific scene they came upon, and we must always remember our emergency services.
“I want to thank them for helping those who were trapped and injured. We must do everything we can to support the community.
“Words on their own will not console someone who has lost a loved one, and we have to be with them. We will be with them for quite some time.”
Justice Minister Helen McEntee commended the gardaí and emergency services as well as locals, who began digging rubble with their bare hands.
"The entire community will be coming to terms with this for a long time. Like everyone else, the first thing I thought of was my own local shop, the people who work in it, people who go to it every day and just to imagine this happening at home, it's absolutely devastating," she told RTÉ's The Week in Politics show.
"It's very hard to know what to say, we all offer our condolences to the families whose lives have been utterly changed forever."
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