Council to seek public inquiry into Creeslough tragedy from Minister for Justice

Donegal County Council will write to the Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, calling for a public inquiry into the Creeslough explosion, where 10 people tragically lost their lives in 2022.

Cllr Frank McBrearty of Lifford-Stranorlar MD re-submitted a motion to the November plenary meeting of Donegal County Council calling for a full inquiry into the tragedy. He was supported by Cllr Tomás Seán Devine of Letterkenny-Milford MD. 

“Every aspect of the State's failures before and after this tragedy must be fully investigated independently if the full truth is to be told,” said Cllr McBrearty, outlining his motion. “The 10 innocent victims and their loved ones deserve nothing less.”

Cllr McBrearty criticised Minister O’Callaghan for “misleading” the families of the Creeslough victims. 

“I will be dealing with Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan TD’s response, which took 10 months to come back to myself and Cllr Tómas Seán Devine via the DCC,” said Cllr McBrearty. “In fact, it shows that he has no understanding about the injustices that these families are going through daily.”

Cllr McBrearty read aloud the written response from the minister’s office to the original motion from last November. The response detailed that it would not be appropriate for the Minister to comment on a public inquiry as criminal investigations into the cause of the explosion are ongoing.

However, Cllr McBrearty outlined that a precedent was set by the Morris Tribunal in 2002 that a public inquiry can take place concurrently with other investigations.

He added that the families do not need any more “liaison officers, committees, workshops or political waffling” and that a public inquiry is the way forward to deliver “transparency” and a “bright light of hope”.

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Cllr Devine added that the late response was “simply not good enough” and that the issue is a “matter of urgency” to the Creeslough families.

As the motion was passed, Mr Patsy Lafferty, Director of Housing, Corporate & Cultural Services, confirmed that the council would write to Minister O’Callaghan calling for a public inquiry.

Those who died in the Creeslough explosion on October 7, 2022, 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; Celtic fan Martin McGill; James O’Flaherty from Sydney; shop worker Martina Martin; carpenter Hugh “Hughie” Kelly; and 14-year-old Leona Harper.