Hundreds of people, including the families of those who died in the Creeslough explosion of October 7th, 2022, gathered at the site of the tragedy on Wednesday to remember their loved ones four years on.
Ten people, ranging in age from five to 59, died in the blast. Robert Garwe and his daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe (5), Catherine O’Donnell and her son James Monaghan (13), Jessica Gallagher, Martin McGill, James O’Flaherty, Martina Martin, Hugh Kelly and Leona Harper (14) were all killed in the explosion.
Heavy rain gave way to bright sunshine at the scene of the tragedy, as prayers were said for lost loved ones.
At the stroke of 3.17pm, at the exact moment of the explosion, an eerie silence fell over the village.
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Some family members who lost loved ones in the tragedy spoke after the short service.
Áine Flanagan, who lost her partner Robert and daughter Shauna in the blast, said that the families were now entering a fifth year without their loved ones.
She said it was “heartbreaking”, and all they wanted was the truth of what happened on that Friday afternoon in October 2022.
“We, the families, we deserve answers,” she said.
When asked what life was like without her partner and daughter, she replied, “It’s painful. I’m missing them every day.”
Donna Harper, whose daughter Leona was just 14 when she was killed in the explosion after entering the garage for an ice-cream, said the pain simply never gets any easier.
She said: “We’re standing here four years on, and it never gets any easier. I still miss my wee girl every single day, every moment of every day.”
“I stood here for almost 24 hours, across the road, waiting for my wee girl to be found, hoping and praying for a miracle that she would be brought out. That didn’t happen, and my wee girl never came home.”
She added that unless the families get the truth of what caused the explosion, they will never be able to move on.
“We need answers, we need to know what happened, why it happened, how it happened. We need to know the truth to be able to move on,” she said.
Her husband, Hugh, said he still recalls waiting at “this very spot” for his daughter’s remains to be taken out from the scene of the carnage.
However, he says it’s wrong to say that his only daughter is not with her family still.
Choking back tears, he said: “She is here. She’s with me. She’s there in the morning, she’s there at night ... first and last thoughts.
“But life is not the same. It’s changed.
“It’s just hard to put it into words, it really is, but the loss, it can’t be measured. It just can’t be measured,” he added.
He said he had one simple request for the Government – to never allow something like this to happen again to any other family.
“I just wish that the Government would come on board, that they would establish a public inquiry for the simple reason as to examine every possible avenue of how this was allowed to happen, and not let it happen again.”
Fr John Joe Duffy read out the names of the victims in the order that they were pronounced dead at the time of the tragedy at the service.
The families were joined in solidarity by members of the Stardust Victims’ Committee as well as members of the Bloody Sunday Trust.
Fr Duffy appealed to everyone gathered to support each other on their journey of healing.
He said: “As we gather here today, as we stand here in this place today, grief does not end, and everyone, while on a collective journey, is at a different stage on the road towards healing.
“Some may have started that journey, while others have found that they have not yet been able to even begin on that journey to healing.”
Members of the emergency services who attended the scene on the day were also present, as well as senior gardaí and a number of elected members of Donegal County Council.
