Creeslough planning permission 'morally and ethically wrong'
BBCA woman who lost her partner and five-year-old daughter in the Creeslough explosion has called plans to develop a new petrol station close to the site of the blast "morally and ethically wrong".
The blast, which killed 10 people, happened at a service station in the County Donegal village on 7 October 2022.
On Thursday, Donegal County Council approved a planning application permitting the construction of a new service station in the village, close to the site of the explosion.
Áine Flanagan, whose partner Robert Garwe and daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe were killed, said the decision should not have been taken while a criminal investigation into the blast is ongoing.
"Shauna was five when she died in the explosion she would be nine in February and she should be making her first holy communion with her classmates in May and that's heartbreaking for me. I should be out shopping for a communion dress and I'm not."
She said: "It's incredibly difficult but for me I have to fight for justice for them."
Flanagan said the families are being told to wait for the outcome of the criminal investigation before they try other lines of enquiries.
"Every door we try and open it's closed why isn't it the same for the planning?"
PASolicitor Damien Tansey, who represents some of the bereaved families said the planning decision is "insensitive and untimely", adding that the families intend to appeal it.
"In the planning process there has been no acknowledgement of the tragedy that occurred or the ongoing pain of the families," he said.
Planning permission for a new development on the site at Creeslough was granted last year but was later overturned following an appeal by the bereaved families.
No official explanation has yet been given for the cause of the explosion.
A primary investigation file was forwarded to the Republic's Director of Public Prosecutions last September by Gardaí (Irish police).
Who were the Creeslough victims?
The 10 victims of the explosion included four men, three women, two teenagers and a five-year-old girl - all from the village or surrounding areas.
Those who died were 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.