Events mark two years since Creeslough tragedy

The blast, which killed 10 people, happened at a service station in the County Donegal village on 7 October 2022.

A series of events have been held to remember the 10 victims killed in an explosion at a gas station in Creeslough, County Donegal, two years ago.

Flowers were laid at the scene of the explosion and the bells of St Michael's Church rang out 10 times at 15:17 local time on Monday, the exact same time the tragedy took place on 7 October 2022, to remember those killed.

The 10 people who died were Robert Garwe, 50, and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe, Catherine O'Donnell, 39, and her son James Monaghan, 13, Jessica Gallagher, 24, Martin McGill, 49, James O'Flaherty, 48, Martina Martin, 49, Hugh 'Hughie' Kelly, 59, and Leona Harper, 14.

A prayer service also took place at St Michael's Church on Monday evening to pray for those killed and those impacted by the tragedy.

Creeslough parish priest Fr John Joe Duffy previously invited everyone to join with them in remembering and praying for those that are bereaved and impacted by the tragedy.

"Families will be remembering their departed loved ones in their own personal, private and family ways as they have been doing every day since the tragedy of two years ago," he said.

"Our entire parish community will be remembering Shauna, James, Leona, Jessica, Catherine, James, Martina, Martin, Robert and Hughie, throughout this weekend as we do every day," he said.

'One of the darkest days'

Meanwhile, Taoiseach Simon Harris also paid tribute to the victims of the tragedy on Monday, describing the day two years ago as "one of the darkest days for our country."

"My thoughts are with the Creeslough community today, particularly those who were injured in the devastating explosion and the families and friends of the 10 people who lost their lives," Harris said.

"The people of Donegal and indeed the entire country will never forget the shock and sadness that emerged on what can only be described as one of the darkest days for our country."

The Fine Gael leader added: "We also remember the rescue workers responding that day and in the aftermath and the whole community coming together to support each other.

Taoiseach Simon Harris says the tragedy is "one of the darkest days for our country"

Almost two weeks ago, Phoenix Law, which acts for the majority of the victims' families wrote to the Irish Minister for Justice Helen McEntee formally seeking a public inquiry as a meeting with the families.

In a statement, McEntee said the Creeslough families deserve to get answers to ensure such a tragedy never happens again.

The minister said: "We have to set a date, but I'm very conscious that it is two years, very conscious that there is still a Garda investigation under way, so its really important that that can be allowed to continue and to be completed. A file will be sent to the DPP [Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions]. My understanding is in the very near future."

She said that separate investigations were also underway through the energy regulator and the Health and Safety Authority, adding that it was important that that work continues as well.

"These families deserve to be listened to, they deserve to be heard and above all they deserve to get the answers to really important questions, what happened, how can this have happened to their families and how can we ensure that this never happens again and that nobody has to go through what they're going through," McEntee said.

She said she looked forward to meeting the families whilst respecting the process that is under way.

An Garda Síochána (Irish police service) said they are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the explosion that ripped through the village’s Applegreen service station and a nearby apartment block on the afternoon of Friday October 7 2022.