Woman files three High Court actions over Creeslough explosion

Aine Flanagan, who lost her partner Robert Garwe and their five‑year‑old daughter Shauna in the Creeslough explosion of October 2022, has launched three separate High Court actions.

The cases, the first of their kind to be heard in the High Court, allege nervous shock and seek damages for the deaths of the Flanagan and Garwe families. Flanagan’s counsel, Damien Keeney SC of Ferrys Solicitors, asked the court to set a date for a damages assessment against three defendants.

Flanagan has sued nine parties in total, securing default judgments against three: Vivo Shell Ltd, which supplies petrol and gas in Creeslough; and Daniel and Annette Lafferty, owners of the premises that housed the Applegreen petrol station, Lafferty’s Supermarket and the apartments where the blast occurred. Those three defendants may apply to have the judgments set aside when the matter is heard next month.

Mr Justice Paul Coffey scheduled an early‑December hearing, estimating the damages assessment will take about one and a half hours. The hearing follows more than 20 personal‑injury and nervous‑shock actions already filed by families and relatives of the ten people who died on 7 October 2022.

Flanagan’s claim states she was in her kitchen on her birthday when the explosion occurred, hearing a “loud and extensive” blast and later confirming the deaths of her partner and daughter at the devastated site. The proceedings also name Duntally Woods Apartments Owners Management Company, Applegreen Ltd and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, alleging failures to keep the premises safe and to maintain gas installations.

Source: Donegal Daily. Photo: Serhii Bondarchuk / Pexels.