A woman who lost both her sister and nephew in the Creeslough explosion has said she will never enter a shop if it is built on the location of the tragedy.
Ann Marie Boyle was speaking after Donegal County Council yesterday granted permission for a new service station on the same site as that on which ten people lost their lives in October 2022.
Ms Boyle lost both her sister Catherine O’Donnell and nephew James Monaghan in the horrific blast.
Reacting to news of the decision to grant permission for a new service station, Ms Boyle said many families feel the same as her.
“I simply would never be able to go there again knowing that Christine and James died there. My family feel the same way.
“And I know that many, many other families and people from Creeslough feel the exact same way.
“The only way we could have honoured the ten people who died on that day was to build a memorable garden where we could all go and honour their memories. Instead, they want to put up ten steel poles. Whoever came up with this idea,” she said.
Ms Boyle confirmed all families who lost loved ones received registered letters yesterday morning telling them of the decision to grant permission but says that members of the council should have met them “face to face” to tell them of the decision before the general public knew.
Planning permission for the site was granted to Vivo Shell Limited yesterday with ten conditions and a notice to that effect was published on the Donegal County Council planning website overnight.
Most of the conditions include issues such as traffic safety, prevention of flooding and sustainable development.
The main garage forecourt will be on a slight different location than the former building on the six acre site.
There were more than 30 objections lodged to the planning, with many of those coming from family members who had lost loved ones.
The new planning application includes a shop, a post office, fuel pumps, a beauty salon, and a space for a memorial garden.
But Ms Boyle said the owners of the Vivo Shell franchise, the Lafferty family, should have tried everything in their power to relocate the new service station to a new site.
The Lafferty family say they exhausted all avenues trying to find a suitable new site to replace the temporary shop servicing the village which is now housed on parish land at the other end of the village.
Ms Boyle added “We do not accept that there are not other alternative sites in the area. In fact, we have been told of a number of sites which could have been used.”
Her views were echoed by explosion survivor Chrstine Evans.
Christine was working in the deli at the Creeslough service station when the building exploded on the afternoon of Friday, October 7th, 2022.
She miraculously managed to escape out of the back of the building with just a shoulder injury.
As well as being caught up in the trauma of the tragedy, Christine lived in a rented apartment above the garage and found herself homeless only to be offered a place to stay by the local Robinson family who run an estate agency.
Christine, who is originally from Kildare but who has lived and worked in Creeslough for many years, says she simply will not be able to continue to live in the village if the service station is rebuilt on the same site.
“I simply will not be able to live in Creeslough if the hoarding comes down and that happens. I find it bad enough having to pass there and I get anxious if I am away and know I have to pass it when I return,” she said.
Christine has been diagnosed with PTSD and says she continue to ‘survive” and not really live since the explosion.
“I take it a day at a time,” she adds.
She too received a registered letter from Donegal County Council yesterday morning telling her of the decision to grant permission for the new service station.
“But I already knew the permission was granted from the night before when I read it in the local newspaper. Who told them and what way is that to treat people whose lives have been destroyed by this tragedy?” she asked.
She revealed she simply could not face spending the next few days in the village and left to stay with her daughter who lives in Co Louth.
“I’m not sure when I’ll be back but this decision has just made it all too hard to take in,” she adds.
Phoenix Law, who acts for a number of the families, have confirmed their intention to challenge this decision to An Bord Pleanala.
“It is difficult to comprehend a more insensitive and morally bankrupt decision in recent times,” Darragh Mackin, Partner at Phoenix Law said.
“Despite the fierce and unrelenting pleas from the families directly affected, the Donegal County Council has placed commercial and business interests above the interests and rights of these families. Such a decision will not be taken lying down.”
Mr Mackin said their clients have today signalled their intention to challenge every aspect of the planning decision in an effort to vindicate their rights, and the rights of their loved ones.
“It is unfathomable that the Grenfell tower or the Stardust nightclub would be rebuilt,” he continued.
“Creeslough is no different. This decision seeks to rub salt into the open wounds of these families who have now for a second time in recent months, been compelled to fight for what ought to be very basic rights. But fight they will.
“Questions must be asked when a contentious decision such as this appears in the local media in Donegal before it is even as much as notified to these families. In many ways, this revelation underscores the families’ concerns as to the motivations of the instant decision.”
