Donegal coroner Dr Denis McCauley has been asked to recruit specialist engineers to examine the site of the Creeslough disaster.
The request was made by solicitor Damien Tansey who represents some members of the families who lost loved ones in the 2022 explosion.
Mr Tansey said he wants to determine if there were any structural problems with the building before the explosion that claimed 10 lives on October 7, 2022.
Last Wednesday, more than 20 bereaved families and survivors met Justice Minister Helen McEntee, Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue, who is Donegal-based, and Environment Minister Eamon Ryan to push for an independent inquiry to run concurrently with the garda and Health and Safety Authority (HSA) investigations.
Damien Tansey said there was a “lot going on behind the scenes” to progress movement in the case.
“I’ve written to Donegal coroner Dr Denis McCauley and asked him to confirm that, in his role as coroner, he has enlisted the services of a specialist firm of structural engineers,” Mr Tansey told the Sunday Independent.
“This would be to determine that there were no structural issues with the building, prior to the explosion, that might have contributed to it. We need to ensure there was no flawed structural design that could have detrimentally impacted what happened when the explosion occurred.”
Four men, three women and three children, ranging in age from five to 59, died in the blast that ripped through the village’s Applegreen service station and a nearby apartment block.
Gardaí have so far arrested four people in their investigations. All have been released without charge.
“I have also written to the owners of the building, asking them to confirm they won’t move one stone before specialist structural engineers have examined the building,” Mr Tansey said, adding that the onus was on the Government to “now act”.
“If they do not give us that undertaking, I’ll apply for an injunction in the High Court.
“The vacuum is already two years old. The idea that the State would just sit on the sidelines because there is a garda investigation is absurd.”
Following Wednesday’s 90-minute meeting, bereaved families and survivors said they felt a step closer to a statutory independent inquiry.
