Donegal TD Thomas Pringle has said a tweet posted by junior minister Josepha Madigan in relation to the Creeslough tragedy, which was subsequently deleted, “caused hurt” to many people in the county.
Shortly after the explosion at the Applegreen garage on October 7th, Ms Madigan, a Minister of State for Special Education and Inclusion, tweeted: “One hopes this isn’t deliberate, but it is yet to be clarified! I hope no-one is injured and they find the culprits.”
The tweet was posted before it was known that 10 people had died and Ms Madigan deleted the post shortly afterwards and later apologised.
Speaking during statements on Creeslough in the Dáil on Tuesday, Mr Pringle said the “disgraceful tweet” had posted caused “distress and annoyance for many Donegal people”.
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“No one was in any way able to make decisions about what could have happened so quickly,” the Independent TD said.
“It was in such bad taste that it is hard to understand, and it caused hurt to many people in Donegal and people have asked me to raise this and that’s why I’m doing this.
“I would urge everyone to think before they comment in future because words have an impact. I would like to take this opportunity to call on fellow representatives, media and the nation as a whole to respect the privacy of the community at this difficult time.”
Mr Pringle said a month on from the tragedy, “Donegal has not been the same since that day”.
“Our community was changed forever on October 7th and it is unimaginable to think what the loss of ten people is to a community of only about 400 altogether,” he said.
The Donegal TD said several month’s mind masses would be taking place over the coming days and there would be a “fresh wave of grief”.
“A dark cloud lingers over the hills and frankly, I don’t think the county will ever be the same again,” he said. “In order to help come to terms with this devastating loss, support should be available to the community during this devastating time and long into the future as well.”
Mr Pringle said he was “very disappointed” to hear that supports had been scaled back in recent days and called on the HSE to bring back drop-in counselling services. He said many local people spoke of “struggling with sleeping” as a result of the tragedy.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said the Government would continue to “back the people of Creeslough” and “stand with the community for as long as it takes”.
Mr McConalogue said the Department for Social Protection was extending the humanitarian assistance scheme to households damaged by the explosion.
“The funds will provide financial support to people who have suffered damage to their home and property,” he said.
“The HSE is providing counselling to those who need it. The impacts of this awful accident may only start to affect people from now on so I urge anyone who needs to talk to someone to reach out and do so.”
