How fragile life can be. It was really brought home to many of us with the tragedy in Creeslough, Co Donegal, on Friday 7 October. The disaster reverberated well beyond the village - a village which had its heart ripped out in a few shattering seconds.
It was just a regular Friday, until it wasn't.
When the scale of the devastation became clear, people across the country were truly shocked.
Ten lives lost: Catherine O'Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan; Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe; Leona Harper was just 14; Jessica Gallagher, 24; James O'Flaherty, 48; Martin McGill, 49; Martina Martin, 49, and 59-year-old Hugh Kelly.
Then, as the heartbreaking stories of those who died began to emerge, people began thinking about what they themselves do as a matter of course on any day of the week, and especially on a Friday as they head into a weekend. Maybe it's a quick stop in the local shop to buy a treat after the working week, maybe it's a fill of diesel or petrol to head away for a couple of days, or a stop to pick up something for dinner.
Throughout that Friday, as emergency service personnel and local volunteers did their utmost to find survivors, the scale of the tragedy was still unfolding.
I will never forget the eerie silence at the scene, broken only by the rumble of tractors towing away trailer load after trailer load of rubble from the building where the explosion had happened. All of us there, media included, were in a state of shock at what was unfolding.
The reaction locally was instant. Through fear and danger, worry and distress, sadness and despair, this community worked as one in response to the explosion and its aftermath. The community spirit in the village was incredible from the beginning.
Local people worked alongside emergency personnel from both sides of the border, right through the night while others worked all night to keep them going with food, hot drinks, and a place to rest. That spirit spiralled through the week and well beyond as funeral after funeral was held and the dawning of a living nightmare unfurled.
Right from the beginning, one person in particular was side by side with the community and the families of those who lost loved ones - Fr John Joe Duffy.
Fr Duffy gave us a real sense of who each of those ten people were, their characters, their talents, their unique traits as he spoke about them in his homilies and in interviews. He did them, and their families, proud and all the time in the background he was supporting the bereaved in navigating their unimaginable pain. He took on an enormous burden by becoming, in a sense, the voice of Creeslough, and in doing so he lifted a great burden from those most impacted by the tragedy.
2022 is now a year forever etched in the story of Creeslough. Like any other year it draws to a close with Christmas and anyone who has lost someone knows that Christmas is not an easy time. New Year is equally tough as the past and future mingle in a tangle of emotions. The passing of time is inevitable, however, and with it comes those difficult milestones we have to get through.
The Christmas lights were switched on as usual in Creeslough a few weeks ago and the young local man who did the honours had, just a few weeks beforehand, brought a bit of welcome cheer to the community.
Caolan McFadden won the Under-16 gold medal at the National Cross Country Championships, which were held up the road from Creeslough in late November. Caolan, a member of Cranford Athletic Club, said afterwards that he had to win this, and he did it for Creeslough.
It was lovely to be there on the day to see the joy on the faces of Fr John Joe and a troupe of Creeslough supporters who were cheering on Caolan as he crossed the finish line and was presented with his gold medal.
The community pride in Caolan’s success meant he would be the one to switch on the Christmas lights in the village where a special glass case contains 12 candles, ten for those who tragically died in the explosion, one for those in the parish who are sick and one for those who died during the year.
Those ten lights are ones which will never go out in the hearts of Creeslough people. This tragedy will, sadly, forever be part of this community and for the families of those who died, it has changed the course of their lives forever.
Remarkably though, as Christmas approached, an announcement came from Creeslough that they were planning something special for January 2023. A concert with some big names had been organised for 30 January in Letterkenny.
'Together for Creeslough', they said, will be a night to say thank you to all those first responders who helped them in their darkest hour, among them people who risked their own lives to search for those who were trapped under the rubble.
It will also be a night for the families, friends and wider community in the village to come together to enjoy a night of music, a night which Fr John Joe said will be part of the healing journey they are all on together.
On the day the tickets for the concert went on sale, they sold out but TG4 will be there on the night and will record a two-hour special programme to be broadcast later so that many more of us can be 'Together for Creeslough' in spirit.
The concert in the Aura Leisure Centre will not be like any other concert to raise funds in the aftermath of a tragedy. This one has deeper meaning. It will be about music helping soothe a deep pain; the cathartic nature of gathering as one with the people who were at the centre of a cataclysmic tragedy, first responders, families, survivors, and their community.
