Relatives of a number of victims of the Creeslough tragedy have lodged a new appeal to halt the rebuilding of the service station on the site of the fatal explosion.
In a fresh appeal to An Bord Pleanala, families say it would be “insulting and disrespectful” to rebuild on the same land where ten people perished in October 2022.
Planning permission was granted by Donegal County Council last month to Vivo Shell Ltd to move forward with the development.
However, families are appealing the decision on four separate grounds including the storage of gas and petrol and the fact that investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the explosion and if any wrongdoing occurred.
They argued that it is against public policy to rebuild a development where a mass tragedy has occurred.
“Both the Stardust Nightclub and the Grenfell Tower were never rebuilt, and the explosion in Creeslough is akin to those tragedies,” the appeal said.
“Additionally, the proposed memorial of ten steel rods is incredibly insensitive, cruel, callous and cold as some of the victims were killed by steel and concrete in the explosion.
“Such a tactless memorial which would be located directly beside the proposed service station cannot be allowed,” they said.
They stated that inquests into the deaths of the ten victims have not yet occurred and that if the development proceeds, it will result in the destruction of crucial evidence.
The 10 signatories of the appeal are the parents of the late Leona Harper, Hugh and Donna, her brothers, Anthony and Jamie, and Anthony’s partner Leah Clarke.
The appeal is also signed by Amanda Faul, Marie Ronaghan, Kathryn McDevitt, sisters of the late Martina Martin (nee Russell), and Nolene and Adrian McAuley, who lived in the building. They are represented by Damien Tansey Solicitors.
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