Planners block petrol station near Creeslough blast site
Ten people died in the blast at a petrol station in Creeslough, County Donegal, on 7 October 2022.
Planners block petrol station near Creeslough blast site
Ten people were killed in an explosion at the Creeslough service station on 7 October 2022
A plan to allow a new petrol station close to the scene of a fatal explosion in Creeslough, County Donegal, four years ago has been overturned.
The blast, which killed 10 people, took place at a service station in the County Donegal village on 7 October 2022.
In March, Donegal County Council approved a planning application that would have allowed a new service station to be built in the village, near the blast site.
On Tuesday, An Coimisiún Pleanála, the Republic of Ireland's planning commission, rejected the proposal after an appeal from some of the relatives of those killed in the explosion.
The commission said a substantial part of the land set aside for the development was zoned as an "amenity area".
That means it is intended for "open space purposes and to make provision for new recreation, leisure and community facilities".
Because of that, the commission said, a commercial development there would conflict with the site's designation.
It would also be "contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area" and would "establish an undesirable precedent for future similar developments on amenity zoned lands", the commission said.
Speaking to BBC News NI in March, when Donegal County Council approved the plan, Áine Flanagan, whose partner Robert Garwe and daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe were killed, said the decision to approve the plans was "morally and ethically wrong".
No official explanation has yet been given for the cause of the explosion.
This is the second time a proposal for a new petrol station in the village has been overturned by An Coimisiún Pleanála.
Planning permission for a new development on the actual blast site was granted last year but was later overturned after an appeal by the bereaved families.
The latest application would have involved a new building containing a shop, post office and deli.
The plans also included a forecourt, underground fuel storage tanks and pumps, a car wash, outdoor launderette kiosk and an ATM.
Those who died were five-year-old Shauna Flanagan-Garwe and her father, Robert Garwe, 50, 14-year-old Leona Harper, Hugh Kelly, Jessica Gallagher, Martin McGill, James O'Flaherty, Martina Martin, and Catherine O'Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan.
The 10 victims of the explosion included four men, three women, two teenagers and a five-year-old girl - all from the village or surrounding areas.
Those who died were Robert Garwe and his five-year-old daughter Shauna Flanagan-Garwe; Catherine O'Donnell and her 13-year-old son James Monaghan; Jessica Gallagher; Martin McGill; James O'Flaherty; Martina Martin; Hugh Kelly; and 14-year-old Leona Harper.
No official explanation has yet been given for the cause of the explosion.
A primary investigation file was sent to the Republic's Director of Public Prosecutions last September by Gardaí (Irish police).
Earlier this year, Irish police sent a second file to prosecutors that includes "formal recommendations".