Creeslough explosion: Some victims’ families want public inquiry

Mr Mackin is representing next of kin of Robert Garwe, Shauna Flanagan-Garwe, Catherine O’Donnell, James Monaghan, Jessica Gallagher, Martina Martin and Leona Harper.

In his letter, Mr Mackin said the Creeslough disaster had been compounded by the absence of an independent human rights-compliant investigation.

He also said the victims’ families endured “unimaginable pain and suffering”.

“Their families remain unable to grieve for their loss until such times as they know the truth of what occurred, the failings are acknowledged and specific lessons are learned so that an incident like this never happens again,” he wrote.

The letter noted that the only current examination of the incident is the criminal investigation by An Garda Síochána (the Irish police service).

It said there remained uncertainty over when that will conclude and whether it will result in any criminal justice proceedings.

Mr Mackin said the statutory function of An Garda Síochána was to investigate alleged criminality and said that “they cannot be criticised for this limitation”.

However, he said that the Irish police force was unable to produce a public report into the incident, disclose documents to families or make recommendations to ensure a similar event never happened again.

He added: “It is clear on any reading that there are wider issues of preventability relating to the Creeslough explosion which will inevitably fall outside the garda investigation.”