Main Image: Lisa Gallagher (left), sister of the late Jessica Gallagher (right) who was one of the 10 victims of the Creeslough tragedy.
The sister of a young woman who was killed in the Creeslough tragedy is urging An Garda Síochána to finally give families answers.
In just over a month, it will be the third anniversary of the Creeslough tragedy.
On October 7th 2022, an explosion rocked the Applegreen service station and adjoining apartment complex, taking the lives of ten people.
One of those lives taken far too soon was that of 24-year-old Jessica Gallagher.
The talented fashion designer had been visiting her boyfriend, who lived in an apartment complex above the service station, when the disaster unfolded.
Gardaí and external forensic experts examined the scene of the deadly blast for months following the explosion.
Several unidentified people have been questioned in relation to the explosion by Gardaí and subsequently released, with Gardaí claiming following those arrest that files were being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
However as the third anniversary of the tragedy looms, families feel that they know no more about the circumstances of the deaths of their loved ones than they did on the day of the explosion.
“It’s very hard to heal and get on with things when you have no answers, when you have no closure,” Lisa Gallagher, Jessica’s sister, told Donegal Daily.
“We feel left in the dark about what is going on. The Guards haven’t given us any information, (and) no one seems to be willing to help us either.”
According to Lisa, families of the victims have not been provided a single update on the status of the Garda investigation into the blast, despite then seeing media reports that people had been questioned and then released in relation to the explosion.
“I understand that the Gardaí work within their own limits, and they cannot give out certain information. I understand (why) they weren’t giving us the names of the people that were arrested, but if they were to tell us what (investigations) they have done, what is currently happening, if a file going is to go to the DPP… it would help.”
“We’re three years down the line – where’s the file? Where’s (the case) going? When are we going to be told what actually happened?”
One of the things she questions with the level of delays is that little to no information about the investigation has been made public – despite the long initial period of on-site investigations that had taken place on the site in the wake of the tragedy.
“The main road was closed for seven or eight weeks, and of course they were gathering their information… but if they brought in all of these experts, how could there not be an answer?”
“I think the Gardaí are good enough at their job that they could get an answer for us. But (again) we don’t know how big of an investigation this is, or how many moving parts there are to this.”
She has also questioned if Gardaí working on the case in Donegal have been provided appropriate resources to carry out such a major investigation in a timely manner.
“Have the Gardaí been provided with enough resources to get this done? It’s taken three years and we don’t know who is working on the case, or if they have been given enough time or enough people.”
“I believe in the Gardaí as a whole, I believe that they are doing what they can – but are they being provided with enough resources?”
“We have a new Garda Commissioner, I’d like to think that in his first few weeks of work that this would be quite a significant move if (the cases) were to be brought forward and that we got these answers.”
That issue of a lack of closure and a lack of any concrete answers as to what happened to cause the explosion is something that has stuck with Lisa, and many others who were so close to the events of that day.
“Every day, every time you think about it, it’s ‘why don’t I know?’”
“I don’t know why my sister is in Doe Graveyard.”
“She would have been turning 27 this month, and I see her friends from school, and I would know some of her classmates… they’re doing things with their lives. They’re going off to Australia and to Canada, they’re getting more education, they’re getting engaged and married.”
“It does make me sad that we don’t know why she (Jessica) now can’t do those things.”
Another matter that is hanging over the families of victims is that of the future of the site of the explosion, once answers are provided.
“Within our family, we have said that we don’t want this to happen to anybody else, so getting these answers helps not just us and our community but helps everybody. You never know – building regulations might change, or something (else) might change to make sure that this never happens again,” Lisa said.
She has also called on Donegal’s TDs and Councillors to get behind the families in their search for truth and justice, and put pressure on the powers that be to produce updates regarding the Creeslough case.
Lisa says that her family and others have received no help whatsoever from politicians in the wake of the tragedy.
“At the time of the explosion we had these TDs and Councillors saying we’ll help you, we’ll do this, we’ll do that… we’re getting nothing from them now.”
“There’s been very, very little help. No help at all from the bigger parties within the Council, which I don’t understand as it benefits everybody involved when we have answers.”
One politician who recently raised matters relating to Creeslough was 100% Redress Party Councillor, Tomás Sean Devine.
He recently brought a motion to Donegal County Council, urging the Council to carry out a compulsory purchase order on the site where the explosion happened.
Vivo Shell Ltd, the proprietor of the site, had planning permission approved to construct a new filling station and forecourt on the site – contrary to the appeals of many locals and families impacted by the tragedy.
“I’m begging you (the council executive) to meet and sit down with the families on this matter,” Cllr Devine told a full meeting of Donegal County Council in July of this year.
Despite pleas from Cllr Devine to continue to discuss a potential compulsory purchase order of the site of the blast in public, he eventually was made to withdraw his motion.
A second motion put forward by Cllr Michael McClafferty, to discuss a potential compulsory purchase in a private workshop that was not visible to the public, was then subsequently passed.
“I understand that it is private property, and those people who own that property have rights,” Lisa said in relation to a potential Council purchase of the site.
“I don’t know how you can push these topics into private sessions when you’ve not actually reached out to the families to ask them (what they think).”
“I’m just so shocked that the Council decided to give planning permission to the owners of that complex when we don’t know if the proprietors are in any way responsible for what happened on that site.”
For Lisa and her family the topic of a memorial garden or something similar is welcome, but she says she could never step foot in it until she knew exactly what happened to Jessica and why.
“The whole thing of having a memorial garden – I think it’s a great idea, it’s what our family would like to happen in Creeslough because our family lives in Creeslough. I live on the Main Street, but I can’t see myself going to a memorial garden for my sister when I don’t know why she’s now in Doe Graveyard.”
“Right now we just want answers about why my sister is dead. I don’t want anything to happen on that site until we know what happened.”
Lisa says that the sheer lack of support from politicians and elected representatives in County Donegal as a whole has been an area of particular hurt for families who are searching for the truth about the explosion to come out.
“From what I can see, there seems to be no political will within Donegal to help us get answers, which is very disappointing,” she said.
“There are multiple big parties that could help us, but they are unwilling. For what reasons? We don’t know.”
“The are always looking for votes here, this is a circumstance where they could get a vote if they would actually help families out.”
“This is the sort of stuff people remember. I did Politics in College, I know how the voting (and political system) works. You have clienteeism and all of that.”
“These politicians and TDs clearly don’t want our votes. They are happy to sweep this under the rug.”
“You would think that if your local representative was interested in helping you then they might reach out and find us (the families),” Lisa said.
“I feel like it shouldn’t be on us to hassle politicians to do the right thing.”
“Left in the dark” – Sister of Creeslough victim urges Gardaí to act almost 3 years on from tragedy was last modified: September 4th, 2025 by Daniel Brennan