Relatives of seven Creeslough victims call for public inquiry to uncover truth about tragedy

The families of seven people who lost their lives in the Creeslough explosion have called on the Justice Minister to hold a public inquiry.

The government is being urged to give families a way to uncover the truth as the second anniversary of the October 2022 tragedy approaches, in which 10 people died.

In a letter to Minister Helen McEntee, as seen by Donegal Daily, Relatives said the gardaí’s criminal investigation “is far from over” after two years.

Acknowledging that the gardaí have a limited scope of investigation, they said there were “wider issues of prevention” related to the Creeslough explosion that would inevitably fall outside the scope of the Garda investigation. They also stressed that it is not the role of the gardaí to make recommendations to ensure that such an atrocity does not happen again.

Darragh Mackin, Phoenix’s legal director and attorney for the families, said the second greatest tragedy of the explosion is the lack of any independent, human rights-respecting investigation to ensure the truth is established and specific lessons are learned.

He said families cannot grieve until they know the truth about what happened.

Phoenix Law is acting on behalf of the relatives of Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter, Shauna Flanagan Garwe, Catherine O’Donnell and her 13-year-old son, James Monaghan, Jessica Gallagher, Martina Martin and Leona Harper (14).

Mr Mackin wrote: “The reality of the situation is that there is an undeniable need for an independent investigation that can provide our clients with the necessary protections to which they are entitled under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).”

“It is essential that any such investigation be public (at least in part) and produce a report on its findings and make recommendations to ensure that lessons are learned and rumours and suspicions are allayed.”

Referring to the inquiry into the Grenfell fire in London as an “appropriate analogy”, Mr Mackin said an independent inquiry could be conducted in a similar manner alongside the criminal investigation without delay.

He concluded that a public inquiry or commission of inquiry would prevent further time being wasted and would provide clients with a means of accessing the truth and, therefore, finally being able to grieve for their loved ones.

Mr Mackin also asked the minister to consider meeting his client to discuss the request.

Relatives of seven Creeslough victims call for public inquiry to uncover truth about tragedy was last modified: September 24, 2024 by Editor in Chief