A decision by Donegal County Council to grant planning permission for a service station to be erected on the site of the Creeslough explosion has been described as “insensitive and morally bankrupt”.
Permission was granted despite multiple objections from relatives of the 10 people who were killed in the explosion on October 7th, 2022.
Some of the relatives objected to the development through the Belfast-based firm Phoenix Law. The firm’s head of public law, inquests and inquiries, Darren Mackin, said the council had chosen to place “commercial and business interests above the interests and rights of these families.
“Such a decision will not be taken lying down. Our clients have today signalled their intention to challenge every aspect of this planning decision in an effort to vindicate their rights, and the rights of their loved ones.
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“It is unfathomable that the Grenfell tower or the Stardust nightclub would be rebuilt. Creeslough is no different. This decision seeks to rub salt into the open wounds of these families who have now for a second time in recent months, been compelled to fight for what ought to be very basic rights. But fight they will.
“Questions must be asked when a contentious decision such as this appears in the local media in Donegal before it is even as much as notified to these families. In many ways, this revelation underscores the families’ concerns as to the motivations of the instant decision.”
The application was for the demolition of the existing building to be replaced by an Applegreen filling station, shop, commercial building, post-office, off-licence, deli and a memorial garden. Applegreen is not involved in the application.
In the Dáil on Thursday, Minister for Education Helen McEntee, who was minister for justice at the time of the explosion, insisted the Government had not ruled out a public inquiry into what happened.
She was responding to Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty who said families have been “retraumatised with this decision” to allow the redevelopment of the site and how it was communicated, that they learned through the media that planning permission had been granted.
The Donegal TD called on Ms McEntee to give a commitment to the establishment of a public inquiry.
Mr Doherty said Margaret O’Donnell, whose daughter Catherine and grandmother James died in the explosion, “went to her grave at the weekend without the answers that she and all of the other families deserve”.
Ms McEntee acknowledged the “absolute devastation” caused by the explosion. She met the families “to make sure they got the answers they are entitled to and that they deserve” and ensure nothing like this happened again.
“I was very clear in my previous role as was government that an inquiry was never being ruled out but it’s really important that the work of the gardaí continues”.
She said “the gardaí in Donegal who have done a huge amount of work to make sure that a file can be prepared, and it will be sent to the DPP.
“But if at the end of that process – and the DPP is independent – there are still questions that need to be answered the Government has never nor should it ever rule out a public inquiry.”
Speaking on RTÉ‘s News at One programme, solicitor for another group of relatives, Damien Tansey, said families were “troubled beyond description” by the decision of Donegal County Council to grant planning permission at this stage.
He questioned why the council were pressing ahead with it when the circumstances of the explosion were being investigated by other State agencies including the gardaí, the Health and Safety Authority and the Commission for the Regulation of Utilities.
Donegal County Council had made the decision on the grounds of proper planning and sustainable development, but, he said, “it’s the timing that they’re concerned about. There were in excess of 30 objections to the planning application. And the families are not intent on blocking the planning permission per se.
“They are intent instead on ensuring that the planning permission and any development that might ensue pursuant to it does not happen until investigations are completed.
“At the moment there’s a vacuum of information. They’re not getting any information. And we’re more than two years down the road. And how long more do they have to wait for the information?”
The permission was granted subject to 10 conditions being fulfilled by the applicants, Danny Martin Lafferty and Annette Lafferty, trading as Vivo Shell Ltd.
In their original submission sent by Michael Friel Architects and Surveyors back in April last year, the Laffertys stated they were aware of the sensitivities of the site involved.
They looked at other sites, but could not find anywhere else suitable for such a filling station. They also contended the nearest filling station is 10km away in Dunfanaghy or Termon.
“I can advise that the next of kin of all of the victims have been contacted by the applicants to advise that an application is to be made to the local authority for the proposed development,” the original application cited.
The Laffertys promised a “state of the art development” with memorials to those who died in the tragedy.
“While Creeslough and the wider Donegal community was shook by the event, the village should not be defined by it and therefore the rebuilding of this premises will be a step forward for the whole community and hopefully allow for some semblance of normality to resume with the village,” they said.
There were 10 objections to the council on the grounds that the application was insensitive to those who were bereaved in the explosion.
Derek Martin from Letterkenny, whose wife Martina was killed in the explosion, said the owners had gone back on their pledge to consult relatives before going ahead with the planning permission.
In its response to objectors, Donegal County Council said it understood the sensitivities associated with the site.
However, it said it is precluded by the Planning and Development Act from assessing the application other “than on the grounds of proper planning and sustainable development”.
The Laffertys first applied for planning permission to rebuild the filling station in April last year.
Other objectors included the musician Matt McGranaghan who wrote a song in memory of Leona Harper, one of the victims of Creeslough.
He said: “The families of the 10 lives that were lost have not been consulted in this process nor were their feelings taken into consideration.
“The proposed memorial features of this application are meaningless and unworthy gestures which seem to trivialise the significance of the enormity of the tragedy and more importantly, the value and preciousness of each life that was lost or affected.
“I trust that the views of the families concerned will be considered in the decision of this application and it will result in the application being denied at this moment in time.”
