Editorials

The Irish Times View on disaster in Donegal: Enduring the worst of days

Locations which have witnessed tragedy are often associated with them but Creeslough should be remembered for its community solidarity

A member of An Garda Síochána brings flowers to the scene of the explosion at the Applegreen service station in Creeslough on Sunday. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA

Sun Oct 9 2022 - 16:13

The devastation witnessed in the Donegal village of Creeslough on Friday transformed the ordinariness of everyday life into the extraordinary. An explosion at a petrol station, post office and apartment complex struck at the heart of the community: 10 lives lost from across the generations; eight more people seriously injured.

It was an event so horrific and so indiscriminate that it commanded international attention, even in a world numbed by a pandemic, war and violence. It prompted reflection on the fickleness of fate, and the randomness of time and place, that brought the victims together and will now bind them forever.

This could have been any village or any town in the busy post-school period on any Friday afternoon. But the tragedy belongs to Creeslough and it will leave no one there untouched. No words can fully capture the scale of the grief but local priest Fr John Joe Duffy, somehow, managed to do so. The heart had been torn out of the small community, he said, likening what had happened to a fictional movie unfolding before our eyes: “It’s just heartbreaking and terrible.”

Amid so much distress, Fr Duffy acknowledged the rescue effort in the aftermath of the explosion. And rightly so. The response was comprehensive and swift. It included fire fighters, the Garda, ambulance and medical services from both sides of the border and the Coast Guard and Air Corps. Those who were first to react were locals who tried to reach those trapped in the rubble despite the risks posed by falling concrete and the danger of further explosions. The trauma faced by some, as they tried to get to family members they knew were inside the wreckage, is impossible to comprehend.

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Inevitably what began as a rescue mission evolved into a recovery one that continued throughout Saturday. Initial analysis indicates the explosion may have been caused by a gas leak and gardaí say evidence “points towards a tragic accident”. It is possible that the precise cause may never be identifiable.

History suggests that the names of locations which have witnessed major tragedy are forever associated with them. The link between Creeslough and the events of last Friday will be indelible. But the village should also be remembered for its response to the disaster and its inspirational communal solidarity.

There will be more of that in the days ahead as people unite in grief for multiple funerals and say farewell to those who have lost their lives. But it is likely that the greater challenge will follow later, long after the gaze of the outside world has moved on and the village is left to deal with lasting trauma. That is when delivery on promises of State support — physical and psychological — will be essential. Creeslough is enduring the worst of days. But there will be further hard times to come.

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