Planning permission refused for Creeslough site

Planning permission has been refused to develop a new petrol station and shop on the site of an explosion in Creeslough, County Donegal.

The blast on 7 October 2022 killed 10 people.

In February, Donegal County Council granted planning permission to Vivo Shell Ltd to redevelop the existing building at the site.

Legal firms representing bereaved family members appealed the decision.

An Coimisiún Pleanála (Irish planning commission) has now refused permission.

The planning application proposed demolishing the existing building and constructing a new building including a shop, a post office, a beauty salon, fuel pumps and memorial features.

Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law said the families welcomed the decision, adding the proposal was "deeply inappropriate" given the ongoing criminal investigation.

"Today's decision has restored faith in the rule of law, where victims are treated with dignity and respect," he said.

"We continue to call for a full public inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the tragedy.

"The families remain committed to seeking truth, accountability and justice."

An Coimisiún Pleanála set out two considerations as part of the decision to refuse permission in a letter issued to Donegal County Council.

It said taking into account the existing character and the pattern of development in Creeslough, the proposed development could "negatively impact on the wider, long-term regeneration and renewal of the village".

It considered the proposed development would be contrary to the Donegal County Development Plan due to inappropriate layout and building design in the context of the existing streetscape.

An Coimisiún Pleanála also said the location of the proposed memorial features were inappropriately sited "in the contest of the significant pedestrian and traffic movements".

"This raises serious concern in relation to both the safety for those visiting the memorials and also the inappropriate siting of the memorial within the development," it said.

Creeslough is a small village in the north west of the island of Ireland, about 15 miles (24km) from Letterkenny and 30 miles (48km) from the border with Northern Ireland.

It has a population of about 400 people.

The blast resulted in the highest number of civilian casualties in a single incident in the county in decades.

The victims - four men, three women, two teenagers and a five-year-old girl - were from the village or surrounding areas.

Those who died were Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe; Catherine O'Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan; Jessica Gallagher; Martin McGill; James O'Flaherty; Martina Martin; Hugh Kelly; and 14-year-old Leona Harper.