Creeslough locals frustrated with pace of investigations

A month after the Creeslough tragedy that claimed ten lives, locals in the rural village are struggling to return to normalcy

Gardaí have been granted High Court permission to extend the period of preservation at the Creeslough Applegreen site until November 27.  Picture: PA

While its community still struggles to grasp the reality of what happened a month ago, their village is still very much the centre of a major Garda investigation.

Accepted by most as a necessary part of the process of trying to discover why the explosion happened, it is — for some — becoming an irritation.

Some of that annoyance has made its way onto the front page of the local paper, The Tirconaill Tribune.

Under the headline 'Major Concerns over N56 Closure', the paper is reporting safety concerns have been raised as drivers have to take smaller routes in and out of the village.

Some have suggested that these routes might not be as safe or as well signposted as more direct routes, like the N56.

Gardaí, however, insist the road closure is necessary, and they are monitoring the situation.

Investigations continue 

As the force said in a recent update on their investigation, they understand and appreciate the impact on the community and the “ongoing inconvenience and disruption” caused due to the continuing scene preservation which they insist is necessary to assist the investigation.

In saying that, though, they then also announced they had been granted in the High Court permission to extend the period of the preservation of the scene until November 27.

Units involved in the investigation include the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI), Garda Analysis Service, and the Garda Technical Bureau.

DNV — Det Norske Veritas — a global company specialising in the investigation and testing of energy systems, remains on site.

Gardaí say that, to date, more than 260 statements have been taken and a large amount of debris has been removed from the site and brought, under escort, to a secure location for further examination.

Added to this, detectives are still reviewing what has been described as “a large amount of CCTV”.

Support for locals 

Meanwhile, the amount of money being raised for people directly affected by the blast, more than €1.4m has been raised by an initiative led by the Irish Red Cross.

Another €476,410 of a €500,000 goal had been raised — as of 11am Friday — on GoFundMe by Creeslough native Gerard McFadden, who currently lives in Brisbane, Australia.

Other funds have been raised on GoFundMe by a variety of people, including Donegal Ladies Gaelic Football, who had raised €1,525 of their €2,000 goal by last Friday.

A “Creeslough support fund” page had raised €1,465 raised of their €3,000 goal, while a “New York Fundraiser for Creeslough” had raised $8,228 USD having set out with a $2,000 goal.

This page was set up by Aoife Cannon, who lives in New York, and organised a walk in Central Park on Sunday, October 16 in memory of the victims of the tragic explosion.

All funds raised will, she has promised, go to the families of the victims.

A native of Creeslough, she has been living in New York for the past three years, but grew up and worked in the village shop.

Her mother Grace Lafferty was the postmistress for 27 years before she retired earlier this year, and she knew most of the victims.

The 26-year-old, for example, used to go swimming with Jessica Gallagher.

Other funds include Donegal woman Michelle Doherty’s “Running Fundraiser for Creeslough Tragedy” page.

She had, by last Friday, raised €18,150 of her original €10,000 goal in memory of the Creeslough tragedy. 

What will happen to all the money raised and how it will be distributed has yet to be decided. Irish Red Cross General Secretary Liam O’Dwyer said: 

What's been said to us is that the bereaved and indeed people who have been quite badly injured, need a bit of time to process this and to think about their future needs.

“So they're not looking to rush or for us to rush something.

“The community is very aware of that as well, so that's why they all took a bit of time with it.” 

As far as a shop is concerned, a temporary shop is currently being built on a green area between St Michael’s Church and the church car park.

As it gets ready to open its doors, it will then be another small step forward for a community still trying to come to terms with the events of last month.

Helping them are HSE resources, which were very quickly made available for villagers.

Within around a week of the tragedy, counselling supports were in place for families of the deceased as well as those who were injured or or made homeless.

Schools have been supported by the National Educational Psychological Service, who are working closely with the HSE, and support has been provided for at least two preschools and a number of local sporting organisations.

More than 55 people had availed of HSE counselling in primary care service and the HSE Support service established following the tragedy.