by Louise Doyle
TOMORROW marks the first anniversary of the Creeslough tragedy which claimed the lives of 10 people and injured eight others.
October 7, 2022 was just like any other other day in Lafferty’s shop in the village.
Excited for the weekend, young children dropped their schoolbags at the doors of the shop as they ran inside for their Friday treats.
Hungry builders queued at the deli.
Others who had just collected their pension from the post office next door bought a lottery ticket and joked with staff that if they won that they would share their winnings with them.
A typical, bustling Friday afternoon in the shop in the heart of the close-knit community.
But at 3.20pm, everything changed when an explosion ripped through the shop and apartment building upstairs.
The noise of the blast, first replaced by a stunned numbness was quickly followed by a heroic and galvanising community effort by people to help in whatever way they could.
An official emergency response was led by Donegal County Council Fire Service with assistance from An Garda Síochána, the National Ambulance Service, Irish Coast Guard, the Coast Guard 118 Rescue Helicopter, Irish Air Corps, Donegal Mountain Rescue team and Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.
A major search, rescue and recovery operation got underway, as gardaí closed off the area and moved the public away from the scene.
An ordinary day turned into nightmare which has left a ‘tsunami of grief’ for the many families and friends of those who died and those who survived, who now live with the scars of their trauma.
The tragedy was felt across Ireland and around the world. President Michael D Higgins and the then Taoiseach Micheál Martin led the sympathy of the nation, joined by international figures including Pope Francis and King Charles.
We remember Martin McGill (49), James O’Flaherty (48), Martina Martin (49), James Monaghan (13), Catherine O’Donnell (39), Robert Garwe (50) and his daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe (5), Hugh Kelly (59), Jessica Gallagher (24) and Leona Harper (14) on the first anniversary of their deaths.
Their loved ones will come together on tomorrow afternoon at the site devastated by a suspected gas explosion.
Later, families will gather in St Michael’s Church, where funerals for the majority of those who died were held, for a Mass which will be celebrated by Fr John Joe Duffy CC.
Donegal County Council has this week been working to erect new hoardings at the site of the explosion, which will be set further back from the roadside, to help facilitate the memorial service and those who wish to leave flowers and mementos.
Families have appealed for privacy to mark the anniversary and their wishes must be respected.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the families whose loved ones died or were injured in the tragedy.
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