Fr John Joe Duffy has told a congregation in Knock that he sees the horrific scene of the Creeslough tragedy in his mind on a daily basis.
The Donegal priest was leading the National Novena at the Co Mayo venue.
Fr John Joe described the days in and around the blast which claimed ten lives was said it was a “surreal” experience and like he was in “a parallel universe”.
Those who died were five-year-old Shauna Flanagan Garwe and her father Robert Garwe (50), Leona Harper (14), Hugh Kelly (59), Jessica Gallagher (24), Martin McGill (49), James O’Flaherty (48), Martina Martin (49), Catherine O’Donnell (39) and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan.
Fr Duffy told pilgrims that despite rescue teams and crowds at the scene of the Applegreen Service Station, the silence was deafening.
“What I was witnessing did not seem real but sadly it was something that was very real,” he said. “You couldn’t even hear birdsong. The only thing you could hear was the occasional rattle of machinery, falling debris or people saying ‘stand back’.
“It was something that one would never want to witness or feel it was something one should never witness.
“Those first minutes of witnessing the scene are forever with me. I see the daily image of that scene now often through my mind.”
Fr John Joe Duffy. (North West Newspix)
Fr Duffy, the chief celebrant of the Novena Mass, recalled a member of the Northern Ireland Air Ambulance Service at the scene telling him the true extent of tragedy.
“I immediately was conscious that the scale of the tragedy unfolding before my eyes was larger than anything I had ever experienced before, nor was it something that I ever thought that I would experience in life.
“My initial reaction was one of tremendous shock, horror, disbelief.”
He added that he prayed at the scene for the safety of those who went straight into the building without assessing the risk to their own lives.
“I became so afraid of my own limited abilities but then I drew on my faith asking Our Lady of Knock to wrap her mantle around us all and I reached out to close friends who could help me, give me guidance.”
The scale of the tragedy was shocking in such a small village, he added.
“The accident robbed us of 10 beautiful souls. The community was devastated by the loss and many people were traumatised.
“We were in a tsunami of suffering but there came a tidal wave of support.”
Fr Duffy said it was important to get the message out through the media that the community was going through its darkest days and hours and that it needed space to grieve.
“For the most part, journalists greatly respected and gave us that that space and also showed empathy with us.”
He argued Creeslough has proven to the world that our church is still our strongest bond, our hope within our communities.
“For many people, our church was the guiding light through the darkest days of the tragedy. A cruel tragedy befell us and we have survived and continue to survive.”
