By Dionne Meehan

A WOMAN who lost her sister in the Creeslough explosion has said she fears her parents will die before they get any answers.

Lisa Gallagher said the past three years have felt like a never-ending cycle of uncertainty.

Her younger sister Jessica was killed in her hometown in the October 2022 tragedy.

Jessica, who was 24-years-old, was a fashion and marketing graduate from the International Fashion Academy in Paris, and was due to begin her dream job as a fashion designer in Belfast around the time of her death.

The late Jessica Gallagher.

Nine others lost their lives that day, on October 7, 2022, and as the third anniversary of the tragedy approaches, grieving families say they are still without answers.

“We know nothing,” Lisa told the Donegal News.

“It is very hard to heal when you have no answers.

“We are being kept very much in the dark about what is going on.

“We are coming up to three years and there is nothing. There seems to be no political will to get this wrapped up.”

Earlier this year, planning permission was lodged to develop a new petrol station and shop on the site of the explosion. The application, Lisa said, was an “insult” to the people of Creeslough.

However, An Coimisiún Pleanála refused the application,

“I understand that we need a shop,” Lisa said.

“We are a very rural community. But, it was an insult not to have the answers for the community before it was decided a shop needed to be built on that same plot of land.

“To me, it feels like whoever was behind the planning cares more about business being done instead of getting answers.

“When something of this magnitude happens, you need to look at the bigger picture.

“It is not just about money, there is a whole community out there that has no answers.”

Lisa Gallagher pictured in the offices of the Donegal News this week. Photo: Brian McDaid

With next month marking three years since the tragedy, Lisa says she fears the impact on the affected families is being overlooked.

She referred to the Stardust tragedy in Dublin where families waited for over four decades for answers.

“With the Stardust tragedy, people waited over 40 years for justice, and their parents had died by the time they got an answer,” she said.

“My fear is that my parents will die before we get answers.

“I would really implore the people of Creeslough to start asking questions.

“I know it is up to the families to get answers, but we have such good neighbours and friends that deserve to start the healing process as well.

“People need to start answering why our loved ones are dead.”

On the morning of that fateful day in October 2022, Lisa was looking forward to a new chapter in the Big Apple while she packed ahead of her travels. But soon, she’d be living in what can only be described as her worst nightmare.

“We were meant to be moving to America on the Tuesday, but that was the day we buried Jessica,” she said.

Lisa now lives on the Main Street in Creeslough, yards away from where her sister lost her life.

At the end of the month, on September 28, Jessica would have celebrated her 27th birthday.

A lover of fancy foods and wine, Lisa and the family will be celebrating her birthday in style, just like they have every year since her passing.