A long-awaited file on the Creeslough tragedy has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The Health and Safety Authority (HSA) sent its report to the DPP this week, which will now be used with other submitted files to complete the criminal investigation into the tragedy.
On October 7, 2022, an explosion in the village of Creeslough claimed the lives of 10 people.
Hugh Harper, father of 14-year-old Leona Harper who died in the tragedy, said he met the news of the HSA file with some apprehension.
“I suppose with the grieving process and losing Leona, and trying to make sense of everything, it’s all interlinked and it’s just hard put into words,” he said.
“I’m happy it’s away. It’s the start of closing a chapter of a criminal investigation. But again, it’s all down to the hands of the DPP now and what they recommend, and suppose how we move forward after that then ultimately.”
An investigation file was sent to the DPP in September 2025, while a supplementary file was submitted by investigating gardaí.
A file from the Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU) has also been submitted.
Families affected by the Creeslough tragedy travelled to Dublin last week for a meeting with Taoiseach Micheál Martin in their campaign for a full public inquiry into the circumstances of the explosion.
Mr Martin told families that a public inquiry can be facilitated if other investigations do not provide satisfactory answers into the cause of the tragedy.
The families have now been waiting for answers for almost four years.
Those who died in the Creeslough explosion were Leona Harper (14); Robert Garwe (50) and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe; Catherine O’Donnell (39) and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan; Jessica Gallagher (24); Martin McGill (49); James O’Flaherty (48); Martina Martin (49); and Hugh “Hughie” Kelly (59).
The 10 people who lost their lives in the Creeslough tragedy.