Visa issues prevented some Derry ambulances from attending Creeslough explosion

Some ambulances from Derry were unable to attend the Creeslough explosion in 2022 due to visa issues.

The ambulances, based at Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry, could not respond to the explosion, which claimed the lives of ten people, as foreign-born paramedics did not have visas that allowed them cross the border into Donegal.

The disclosure was made to an inquiry by the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly into the operation of the Common Travel Area (CTA) agreement.

“Some ambulances from Northern Ireland could not assist during the explosion that occurred in Creeslough because not all of the paramedics had the necessary visas to cross the invisible border,” Fine Gael senator Emer Currie said.

The deadly blast at the Applegreen complex in Creeslough killed ten people.

Several Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) did assist at the scene of the explosion, but others were presented from doing so. NI Fire and Rescue crews also aided.

Senator Currie said: “The electronic travel authorisation scheme in its current form undermines the Common Travel Area and will damage tourism primarily in Northern Ireland and the North West of Ireland.”

Senator Currie used Creeslough as an example of the difficulties being caused for healthcare services in both jurisdictions, particularly hospital consultant.

The CTA is an agreement between the Republic and the United Kingdom, which allows citizens to travel freely into each other's countries.

Those rights do not extend to migrants living on either side of the border, even if they hold lawful residency.

The Department of Justice says that any non-European Economic Area national must have a valid Irish visa before they seek to enter the Republic of Ireland, including crossing the land border.