Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are here to speak on the awful tragedy at Creeslough. It was one of those moments where the island was united in shock and in grief. It was one of those moments when we look at our own lives and the people in them and take the time and opportunity to tell them how much we value and love them and how unbearable it would be to imagine life without them. This is exactly the present and future for the families of those who lost their lives in Creeslough.

I am of the generation who did not go around saying "I love you" to family members or hearing it from them, but we all knew it. I said it to my dad a few weeks before he died when he was having a serious operation and I remember the two of us were bawling. I am so glad I did but at least I had notice. What happened in Creeslough was not expected. It was an ordinary day. A simple trip to the shops, a good turn by a neighbour or a quick nip in for an ice-cream or birthday cake ended the lives of their beloved and changed forever their own. No more than my daddy and I both knew it, those people were loved too. For the surviving loved ones, they must know that.

No matter how long or short our lives, no matter how happy, simple or complex they are, our lives begin and end with a set of numbers - our date of birth and the date of our death. The first we celebrate year in, year out, while the second comes more slowly and we do not know when it will come. It arrived for the people of Creeslough on 7 October 2022. I wish comfort and healing to the families and the community.

I pay special tribute to the Garda, the fire service, the first responders, ambulance service and the priests in the parish of Creeslough.

They showed that at times of deep crisis there is a welcome and a place for us all, whether our faith has lapsed or we have no religion. I am not a very religious person but I believe the whole island was struck by the shocked and broken-hearted people coming and going to the church to find some comfort, answer or meaning. I pay tribute to Fr. John Joe Duffy and the priests of the surrounding parishes. I know and remember the comfort it brings when we lose somebody we love.

I often hear people of Donegal say the county is up north and forgotten but it is not. We will never forget the victims, families and friends from that fateful day. Donegal is loved throughout the 32 counties of Ireland. From the people of north Kildare I send to the people of Creeslough my deepest sympathies. I extend my sympathies to my Dáil comrades Deputies Doherty and Mac Lochlainn and Teachtaí McHugh, McConalogue and Pringle. Whether our counties win or lose, we all feel it. Jessica Gallagher, Martin McGill, Leona Harper, Robert Garwe, little Shauna Flanagan Garwe, James O'Flaherty, Martina Martin, Hugh Kelly, Catherine O'Donnell and James Monaghan; ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha.

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