According to RTÉ News, Minister of Justice Helen McEntee has confirmed that a meeting would be held next week in response to the relatives of the Creeslough tragedy, reports RTE.
Although the minister is pleased to meet with the families and hear their concerns, RTÉ News understands that she believes it is crucial that the investigations conducted by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, the Health and Safety Regulator, and An Garda SÃochána continue.
Hugh “Hughie” Kelly and 14-year-old Leona Harper, Catherine O’Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan, Jessica Gallagher, Martin McGill, James O’Flaherty, Martina Martin, and Robert Garwe and his 5-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe were among the deceased, reports RTE.
Families of those killed in the Creeslough disaster have previously stated that they cannot wait to learn more about the explosion that killed their loved ones, much like the relatives of Stardust victims can.
In a recent letter to the minister’s office, the group—which calls itself the Creeslough Family Support Group—asked for a meeting to discuss a request for an independent investigation into the incident.
According to the group, it stands for an estimated 40 people who were directly affected by the October 7, 2022, explosion in the hamlet of Co Donegal, which claimed ten lives, reports RTE.
The group stated in a letter to Ms. McEntee last Friday that the anguish they have experienced so far is incalculable.
“The impact this has had on the families, friends, schools that all create a community after losing ten people has had a huge impact not only on the Creeslough community, but to the people outside of the village and also the county and country as a whole,” the letter said, reports RTE.
“It has been recognised as a national tragedy,” it added, reports RTE.
The letter said that questions have arisen due to the “tremendous amount of lives lost and the huge devastation”, adding the most common question is “why?”.
It said: “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”, reports RTE.
A lawyer for the families of seven of the 10 deceased wrote to Minister McEntee’s office on September 26 to ask that a public investigation be established.
Speaking three weeks ago on the tragedy’s second anniversary, Ms. McEntee expressed her happiness at meeting with all of the Creeslough families, reports RTE.
On October 7, she stated that “also separate investigations under way through the energy regulator and the Health and Safety Authority” and that a file will be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions “in the near future.”
“These families deserve to be listened to, they deserve to be heard, and above all, they deserve to get the answers to really important questions,” she stated, reports RTE.
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