Donegal County Councillors have passed a motion seeking a statutory judicial public inquiry into the Creeslough explosion.
“Why did this happen and who is to blame?” – these are the two most important questions that must be answered by the State, said Councillor Frank McBrearty.
The Independent Councillor gained unanimous support for his motion today, which requested that the new incoming Government establish an independent inquiry within its first 100 days.
Cllr McBrearty said that the “truth and nothing but the truth” is the only thing that will set grieving families free.
“It has been two years, one month and 18 days since the tragic events of Creeslough happened, this is the worst tragedy to hit in Donegal in this century,” he said.
Cllr McBrearty read the names of the 10 victims to the council chamber in Lifford, remembering Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe; Catherine O’Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan; Jessica Gallagher; Martin McGill; James O’Flaherty; Martina Martin; Hugh Kelly; and 14-year-old Leona Harper.
“I cannot imagine what it is like to lose a family member in such a terrible and untimely way,” he said.
“Some people will say that a tribunal is a waste of time and they go on for too long. Maybe they do.
“As the only public representative in this council chamber and county today that has the experience of participating in a tribunal enquiry, it is my firm opinion that this is the only way from which these families can ever get any justice worth talking about.”
Cllr McBrearty said that the criminal investigation should not delay the inquiry.
“There are a number of investigations that are ongoing and there will be commentators out there that will say you cannot establish a tribunal until these are included, this is incorrect,” he said.
“The precedent was set when the Morris Tribunal was established in March 2002 when a number of garda investigations, garda complaints board investigations, criminal and civil court cases were ongoing at the time.”
Cllr McBrearty added that if the government does not establish this much-needed public enquiry in the next six months, he plans to resubmit the motion again every six months, as per standing orders, “until they do the right thing by these families”.
Following the passing of the motion, Donegal County Council agreed to write to the appropriate Minister in the incoming Government with details of the motion.
