Two parents whose daughters were killed in a blast in the Donegal village of Creeslough have said a public inquiry is needed to find the truth behind what happened to their daughters.
Earlier on Tuesday, families of seven of the 10 victims of the explosion that ripped through a petrol station and nearby apartment block in Creeslough on 7 October 2022, called on Minister for Justice Helen McEntee to set up an independent investigation into the blast.
Four men, three women and three children died in the October 2022 explosion.
Donna Harper, whose 14-year-old daughter Leona was killed in the in the explosion, and Anthony Gallagher, whose 24-year-old daughter Jessica was killed, spoke to Prime Time's Miriam O’Callaghan on Tuesday night.
"It's very, very important for us as families because we need the truth and we need answers," Ms Harper said.
"We need to know what happened to our beautiful 14-year-old daughter who went into a shop and was killed, and along with other 10 people."
Donna Harper, whose 14-year-old daughter Leona was killed in the Creeslough explosion in 2022, and Anthony Gallagher, whose 24-year-old daughter Jessica was killed, speak to @miriamocal about why they're calling for a public inquiry into the blast. @rtenews | #rtept pic.twitter.com/hfn3wVWTPo
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) September 24, 2024
"There has been people left with injuries, lifelong injuries, that have to live with us. People lost their homes, and they have to live with it."
Two years on, the grief is "unbearable" and does not get any easier, Ms Harper told Prime Time. Her daughter Leona was "so full of life, had everything in front of her."
"She loved to go to the teenage and discos with her friends, out and about to car shows, to tractor shows with her brother, Jamie, and her brother, Anthony, and her friends. Full of life and had her whole life in front of her."
"Her life was taken away from her, and Lona had a right to life, and that was stolen and taken away from her, and it was taken away from us as a family," Ms Harper told Prime Time.
Anthony Gallagher said his daughter Jessica had only recently graduated with a fashion degree and had studies in Paris and Shanghai.
"She had just graduated, and she was to start her new job on Monday in Belfast, and unfortunately, she was killed on the Friday. We miss her immensely."
Mr Gallagher says the grief is "immeasurable".
"I think that's one of the hardest things for a family to take, is the loss of potential of a person. The potential they have, should it be they're getting married, having children, having a life which is snuffed out?"
"No matter how we lose them, we don't want to lose them. But to lost them in the way that we lost ours is very, very hard take," he told Prime Time.
The request from the families who lost loved ones in Creeslough comes as gardaí continue to investigate the circumstances of the explosion.
Mr Gallagher says that investigation will continue and that they’re "waiting equally on results of that."
"But a public inquiry can continue along with the investigation. It's more for public safety and we do not want any other family to have to go through what we've gone through the last two years."
"Nobody knows what happened on that day. Is there other buildings out there like that? We don't know. I think the public deserve to find out what exactly happened so that it doesn't happen again anywhere," Mr Gallagher told Prime Time.
Earlier on Tuesday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said "very significant questions need answers" in relation to the Creeslough explosion, and that he is sure the Government will consider a request from families like the Harpers and Gallaghers for a public inquiry.
"Of course we need to keep an open mind but I think we need to engage on what facts are trying to be established through an inquiry and how that is different from other enquiries or investigations under way.
"I can absolutely understand that families obviously want answers and want information and there are also very significant questions that need answers."
Ms Harper said that when the explosion happened on the 7 October 2022, "the government did go very, very public and state that they would do anything to help the families in their requests."
She now hopes her request for an inquiry will be agreed to.
"I have actually had people from the Dáil government come to our house, shake my hand to my husband, and says that they would do anything to help us. So now we're asking that question, give us a public inquiry that we deserve."
