Creeslough comes to standstill as two victims laid to rest

Creeslough came to a standstill on Tuesday as the first funerals of those killed in the explosion at the local shop and petrol station on Friday took place.

Hundreds of mourners packed into St Michael’s church and along the main street as the Donegal village bid farewell to Jessica Gallagher (24) and Martin McGill (49) in separate Masses which took place within less than two hours of each other.

The parish priest, Father John Joe Duffy, who celebrated both funeral Masses, said Ms Gallagher had a “radiant smile that would light up a room with that infectious warmth” and had left “ripples of love” for all who knew her.

A fashion designer who had been due to start a new job in Belfast this week, she loved to travel but Donegal was “always in her heart” and the place she was most proud of her was her family home — “her touchstone, her rock and her pillar”.

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He paid tribute to Mr McGill as a “beautiful soul” who was a carer for his mother, Mary, and was so kind he was “a person where you could see the goodness flowing out of him.”

Originally from Scotland and a lifelong Celtic fan, it was “against the odds” that Mr McGill would not have been in the shop at the time of the explosion, for he went there “five times a day or more to bring errands out for people”, Fr Duffy said.

The President and the Taoiseach were represented at the funerals by their aides-de-camp, and the North’s First Minister designate, Michelle O’Neill, also attended, as did members of the emergency services who had helped search for survivors, care for the injured and recover the bodies of those killed in the explosion.

Fr Duffy told mourners at the Requiem Mass for Ms Gallagher that Pope Francis was “heartbroken at the tragedy, at the sad loss of lives and life so young, that has deeply touched him.”

The Taoiseach Micheál Martin led expressions of sympathy for the victims in the Dáil yesterday and pledged to “support this community now and in the time ahead as it comes to terms with this trauma.”

The Cabinet agreed on Tuesday that access to the State humanitarian fund, which is used to help victims of flooding, will be extended to households directly affected by the tragedy.

Fundraising appeals to support the families of the victims and those injured in the explosion have so far raised more than €700,000.

The funerals of three more of the victims, James O’Flaherty and mother and son Catherine O’Donnell and James Monaghan will take place on Wednesday.

Ten people aged between five and 59 died in the blast at the Applegreen service station, which destroyed the garage, shop and the apartments behind it.

The cause has not yet been established, but the main line of inquiry has been focused on an accidental gas leak.

Additional reporting — PA