Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the people who are still hurting and who will hurt for a long time. Families who are directly affected will hurt due to this enormous loss and tragedy. I am very conscious that this is extremely raw. It is very raw for the people who are still grieving. We are in the middle of the months' minds and while this opportunity has been afforded to us parliamentarians to speak on this issue, I am conscious that there are people who are in tremendous pain and are hurting following the loss of their loved ones - their relatives, neighbours and friends.

From the Friday night, An Garda Síochána was on-site with many other emergency services. As the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine pointed out, the council played a very active role in ensuring there was an immediate response in conjunction with the community. An inspector was appointed on the Friday night by An Garda Síochána to deal with the families who were going to be directly affected. I acknowledge the immediate response of An Garda Síochána. In the aftermath of that appointment, Garda liaison officers were appointed to deal directly with the families. It is important that we reassure the families that those Garda liaison officers will remain with them in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. It is important to emphasise this. Regardless of the response, the one thing we must be conscious of is that it is must be victim-centred and victim-focused. One thing I have learned in my 23 years in politics is that words can be comforting or lead to difficulties. It is important that whatever words are used in the future emphasise the point that victims will be central to whatever plan is put in place for the community in Creeslough.

I acknowledge Donegal County Council for appointing a liaison person on-site, which was also important. They were very proactive in setting up their group at both executive and county level to ensure that there is a mechanism there. I acknowledge Padraic Fingleton and his team from Donegal Local Development Company, who have been proactive in meeting with different representatives from the community and leadership within the community to figure out a way forward. From speaking to Mr. Fingleton, it is clear that we are struggling regarding what the best thing to do here is. As a Donegal Deputy and a neighbour of Creeslough, I am struggling to figure out what the next best steps are. From my own experience and my experience in community development, I think the best thing we can do is to ensure the community of Creeslough is not forgotten. Regardless of what the response to this community is, it must be a community response so we need to ensure at all times that whatever is needed in the future is provided.

I am also conscious that whatever we do or whatever plans or visions we have for the future will not change what people have lost in terms of family members, neighbours and friends so we must all be very cognisant of that. My colleagues, Deputies Doherty and MacLochlainn, and the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, have emphasised the importance of community response and listed numerous examples of people who responded in the immediate aftermath. I join them in expressing those sentiments and in acknowledging the role of Father John Joe Duffy and Reverend David Skuce, whom I got to know during the week. I join my colleagues in praising the work done at a pastoral level. We need to support them too. I spoke to a lady today who said:

Joe, we're living with this every day. Every morning we wake up, we're still living with it and we know we're going to be living with it for a long time into the future.

As parliamentarians, we can ensure we continue to communicate and let people know they will not be forgotten. We can do this not just through words but through actions and this is something I will endeavour to do.

We have a lot of examples internationally where communities have had to deal with enormous trauma and tragedies in different forms that have left a massive legacy. A lot of people have been reaching out from Wales to Scotland to the North. On that Friday night when I spoke to many young men and women from the emergency services in the North who joined our own emergency response, they were very shocked by the whole thing. These were men and women in their thirties who would never have had to deal with this type of tragedy in the North. This shows how things have moved on in the North and how collectively we can learn from the North's past and people like Reverend Norman Hamilton from north Belfast who reached out directly to the community and want to help it. We have a role to play as parliamentarians in using our own networks to do that. I acknowledge Malachy O'Neill from Magee University and Eddie Friel, who will facilitate a meeting - an initial conversation - to figure out the best thing to help the community in the medium to long term. At the moment, there are nuts and bolts issues that need to be dealt with. There needs to be proper communication for local businesspeople who want to get their businesses to a place to serve the community knowing what the plan is.

I refer to whatever communication An Garda Síochána and the safety authorities can provide regarding the investigations, once complete. It is important that these lines of communication are led from the front.

To conclude, I again extend my deepest sympathies to the families and the Creeslough community, to the families and relatives of the deceased, to those critically injured and to all the people directly impacted by this tragedy that arrived on our doorstep. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha dílse. Gabhaim mo bhuíochas chuig na daoine a bhí ag obair ar an oíche agus ar an lá dár gcionn agus na daoine éigeandála fosta. Tá mé ag smaoineamh ar Robert Garwe, Shauna Flanagan Garwe, Hugh Kelly, Leona Harper, Jessica Gallagher, Catherine O'Connell, James Monaghan, Martina Martin, Martin McGill agus James O'Flaherty. Táimid ag smaoineamh orthu agus ar an bpobal fosta. Beimid ar a dtaobh amach anseo.

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