Almost two years after a devastating explosion at a Creeslough, County Donegal service station claimed 10 lives, Ireland’s national planning body has overturned a local council’s approval to build a new petrol station near the site of the tragedy.
The deadly blast, which occurred on October 7, 2022, at the village’s existing service station, left a community in mourning and sparked ongoing debate over development plans for the area. All 10 victims were local residents: five-year-old Shauna Flanagan-Garwe and her 50-year-old father Robert Garwe, 48-year-old Catherine O’Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan, 24-year-old Jessica Gallagher, 49-year-old Martin McGill, 74-year-old James O’Flaherty, 49-year-old Martina Martin, 66-year-old Hugh Kelly, and 14-year-old Leona Harper. To date, no official cause of the explosion has been released, though Irish police (Gardaí) have submitted two investigative files to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the most recent of which included formal prosecution recommendations.
Earlier this year, Donegal County Council approved a planning application for a new service station development on land close to the original explosion site. The proposed project included a new retail building with a shop, post office, and deli, alongside a forecourt with underground fuel storage, fuel pumps, a car wash, outdoor launderette kiosk, and ATM. This marked the second time a proposal for a new petrol station in Creeslough had advanced through planning, after a previous proposal for development directly on the original blast site was approved and then overturned on appeal by bereaved families.
Following an appeal from relatives of those killed in the explosion, An Coimisiún Pleanála, the Republic of Ireland’s independent planning commission, has now overturned the local council’s approval. In its ruling, the commission noted that a substantial portion of the land earmarked for the commercial development is officially zoned as an “amenity area”, meaning it is designated exclusively for open space use and to support new recreation, leisure, and community facilities.
The commission found that building a commercial petrol station on this land would directly conflict with its official zoning designation. It further ruled that approving the development would run counter to the proper planning and sustainable development of the Creeslough area, and would set a harmful precedent for future commercial developments on other amenity-zoned lands across the region.
Áine Flanagan, who lost her partner Robert Garwe and daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe in the explosion, had spoken out against the original approval back in March, calling the Donegal County Council decision “morally and ethically wrong”. Tuesday’s ruling marks a victory for Flanagan and other bereaved families who have fought to prevent commercial development on land near the site of the tragedy.