CONCERNS over the extended closure of the N56 road through Creeslough were voiced by members of the local community at a public meeting held by the Red Cross.
The N56 road will remain closed until November 27 as the Gardaí have been granted an extension by the High Court to continue to preserve the site of the explosion.
Creeslough locals expressed their frustrations regarding the diversions that have been put in place due to the road closure at a meeting on Thursday evening in the Masinass Hall.
One of the issues raised was that the road was not fit for such a high volume of traffic.
The narrow back road has very few lay-bys to allow for safe passage of two vehicles. Another person said that the side of the road has started to deteriorate with the edges “starting to fall away”.
The meeting heard that the road was made impassable last week when a lorry tipped over and had to be pulled from the ditches.
“We spent Tuesday afternoon moving the 40ft lorry, we don’t mind helping out but if this is going to be the situation until the 27 November then we need some assistance,” added a local man.
Donegal County Council’s Director of Community Development and Planning Services, Liam Ward said in response said that the extended road closure was outside of the role of the council.
He said that they had been made aware of the issues regarding inadequate signage, particularly at the Termon junction. He then ensured that he would arrange a meeting to discuss signage, lighting and lay-bys.
One woman said that she was concerned for people walking on the road at night due to a high influx of traffic, drivers who are not familiar with the roads and a lack of adequate lighting. All of these issues combined were making the road very dangerous, she said.
A local business owner explained how he has had issues with clients finding his business due to lack of signage on the detour route. He told the crowd how one client had missed the small turn off to Creeslough and ended up in Falcarragh.
Members of the Creeslough community had also raised concerns last week regarding communication with the Red Cross.
“We had a lot of complaints from people saying they couldn’t contact the number from the Red Cross, so hopefully that’s going to be addressed,” said Gerard Duffy from the Creeslough View.
A northern phone number was circulated for those in need of support locally and that there was issues getting through to the number.
Ray Mackey, a Red Cross volunteer from Donegal, who has been on the ground in Creeslough since the tragedy addressed these concerns during the meeting.
“At the early stage we decided that at a local level, one number would be the best way to go to avoid fragmentation of communication,” he said.
He said that it was his own personal phone number. He further explained that it was a Northern phone number because he lives in Muff on the Donegal border with Derry.
“I gave out my personal number as an initial point of communication, for no reason other than that.
“Nobody should be reading into it- it was simply my number as an expedient to allow people to connect with us quickly in the early stages,” he said.
The Red Cross have since set up a dedicated number as an official point of contact for those affected by the explosion.
This number as well as a dedicated email address will be sent out on a leaflet to those living in Creeslough with the help of An Post.
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